This is a list of the

Sites of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSIs) in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In England the body responsible for designating SSSIs is

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, which chooses a site because of its

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

or physiographical features. , there are 18 sites designated within this

Area of Search The following is a list of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by area of search, in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are areas of conservation, consisting of protected areas, recognised for their biological or geological significance. In Northe ...

, of which 12 have been designated due to their biological interest, 4 due to their geological interest, and 2 (

Durham Coast The Durham Coast is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. Starting just south of Crimdon Dene, north of Hartlepool, it extends, with a few interruptions, northward to the mouth of the River Tyne at South Shields. Not ...

and Redcar Rocks) for both. Natural England took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from

English Nature English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Environmen ...

in October 2006 when it was formed from the amalgamation of English Nature, parts of the

Countryside Agency The Countryside Agency was a statutory body set up in England in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The agency was dissolved in 2006 and its functions dispersed among other bod ...

and the

Rural Development Service The Rural Development Service (RDS) was formerly part of the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It ceased to exist on 1 October 2006 following the creation of Natural England. History The RDS was create ...

. The English counties were revised under the 1974 reorganisation of local government. Until the 2010s,

, which maintains the database of English SSSIs, kept the listing of counties as it was in 1974, but by 2015 it had updated the lists to reflect some later changes. However, even though

was abolished in 1996 it is still used as an area of search by Natural England, rather than being divided between the

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

and

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

lists. The data in the table is taken from Natural England's website in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI.''Natural England'' citation sheets for each SSSI (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

files). Retrieved on 17 June 2011. For other counties, see

List of SSSIs by Area of Search The following is a list of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by area of search, in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are areas of conservation, consisting of protected areas, recognised for their biological or geological significance. In North ...

Sites

Notes

:Data rounded to one decimal place. :Grid reference is based on the

British national grid reference system The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system (OSGB) (also known as British National Grid (BNG)) is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, distinct from latitude and longitude. The Ordnance Survey (OS) devised the ...

, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

. :Link to maps using the ''Nature on the Map'' service provided by ''Natural England''. :The Durham Coast site extends into two other counties and so can be found on lists of SSSIs in

and

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

. :The North York Moors site extends into the county of

and so can be found on the list of SSSIs in North Yorkshire.

References

{{SSSI AOS lists