Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many sites of special scientific interest are on the defence estate; how much land those sites cover; and how many such sites are in a favourable condition.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
The UK defence estate includes 171 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering 81,266 hectares (ha). SSSIs are designated and assessed differently between all four countries.
Country | Number of SSSIs | Total Hectares (ha) covered |
England | 129 | 68,500 |
Wales | 18 | 4,766 |
Scotland | 22 | 6,911 |
Northern Ireland | 2 | 1,089 |
In England 34,366 ha is deemed by Natural England to be in Favourable condition.
In Wales, 3,632 ha is deemed by Natural Resources Wales to be in Appropriate Conservation Management.
Scotland includes 22 SSSIs covering 6,911 ha. This includes 148 separate SSSI features. 121 are deemed by NatureScot to be in Favourable condition and six are in Unfavourable recovering condition.
Northern Ireland includes two Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) covering 1089 ha. This includes 12 separate ASSI features,10 of which are deemed by Northern Ireland Environment Agency to be in a Favourable condition with two in an Unfavourable recovering condition.