__NOTOC__ 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 the county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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 (ecology ...

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

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 E ...

or physiographical features. Natural England uses Dorset's borders to mark one of its Areas of Search. , there are 139 sites designated in this Area of Search. There are 20 sites with a purely geological interest, and 103 listed for biological interest. A further 16 sites are designated for both reasons. 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. Natural England, like its predecessor, uses the 1974–1996 county system and as such the same approach is followed here. The data in the table is taken from Natural England in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI, and the County Background Datasheet for Dorset.Natural England County Background datasheet for Dorset SSSIs
Accessed 6 Sept 2012 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, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

. :Link to maps using the ''Nature on the Map'' service provided by ''English Nature''.

References

{{SSSI AOS lists Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset