Key Scottish Environment Statistics 2012

Conservation - Footnotes

1) Figures as at 31^st March each year.

2) Area figures are rounded to the nearest thousand hectares and percentages to the nearest whole number. Area figures exclude the area in England of cross-border sites. Figures for SACs and SPAs include both terrestrial and marine areas. Figures for SSSIs include intertidal habitats.

3) Some SSSIs overlap, and where this occurs the area of overlapping land will be counted more than once. In 2012 this accounted for around 2,700 hectares, so the net area of SSSI sites at 31 March 2012 is approximately 1,020,300 hectares.

4) The area of an SSSI is based on the documented area stated on each citation at the time the site was notified or reviewed. Where an SSSI has been reviewed under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 and the citation area figure has been changed to a more accurate GIS measurement, SSSI area totals will reflect the revised area from the date of SSSI review, but retrospective SSSI area totals have not been adjusted. As a result of this it is possible for the overall SSSI area figure to change from one year to the next without there being any actual change in SSSI site boundaries on the ground.

5) Some SACs overlap, and where this occurs the area of overlapping land will be counted more than once. In 2012, this accounted for around 5,500 hectares, so the net area of SAC sites at 31 March 2012 is approximately 968,700 hectares. Figures include both designated SACs and candidate SACs submitted to the EC.

6) In 2009, Scottish Ministers classified 31 marine extensions to existing seabird breeding colony SPAs around Scotland's coasts. In 2010, six new SPAs were classified for golden eagle. These designations have contributed to the large increase in SPA area from 657,456 hectares in 2009 to 1,296,843 hectares in 2012.

7) Some SPAs overlap, and where this occurs the area of overlapping land will be counted more than once. In 2012 this accounted for around 58,500 hectares, so the net area of SPA sites at 31 March 2012 is approximately 1,238,000 hectares.

8) Since 2004, SNH has carried out a review of SSSIs and their associated documentation and a small number of sites (or parts of sites) are no longer considered to be of special interest. SNH is taking action to denotify these areas.

9) UK Parliament (1979). Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

10) Further information about SMs, including maps, is available on Historic Scotland's data website: http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk.