Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(asked on 28th January 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of SSSI units were monitored (a) by number of units and (b) by area, in hectares as part of Natural England’s SSSI monitoring programme in each calendar year from 2009.
Answered by
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The numbers of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) units monitored and the area of units monitored in each calendar year from 2009 to 2019 are given below. The proportions of SSSI units and SSSI area have been expressed against a single common figure, reflecting the current SSSI extent, rather than the extent in each year. This is because the area and number of SSSI units have changed within the individual years from 2009 to 2019.
Year | Area monitored (ha) | Number of units monitored | Proportion of SSSI units (based on current number of SSSI monitoring units) | Proportion of SSSI area (based on current area of SSSI monitoring units) |
2009 | 204,465 | 3,655 | 17% | 19% |
2010 | 339,441 | 5,009 | 23% | 31% |
2011 | 79,753 | 2,349 | 11% | 7% |
2012 | 108,615 | 2,689 | 12% | 10% |
2013 | 91,471 | 1,993 | 9% | 8% |
2014 | 67,274 | 1,437 | 7% | 6% |
2015 | 72,115 | 1,599 | 7% | 7% |
2016 | 61,983 | 1,097 | 5% | 6% |
2017 | 36,187 | 769 | 4% | 3% |
2018 | 38,987 | 968 | 4% | 4% |
2019 | 75,619 | 1,275 | 6% | 7% |