Special Protection Areas

Details of SPAs

Situated at the north-west of Europe and possessing a wide variety of wild and semi-natural habitats, Scotland is internationally important for many species of wild birds. SPAs represent the most valuable sites for these species and are therefore of great importance in an international context. At 31 March 2009, there are 146 sites in Scotland classified as SPAs, covering a total area of approximately 657,000 hectares. In addition there are 3 SPAs which have been subsumed into larger sites since their initial classification.

• View a current site list of classified and proposed SPAs
• For more site details visit Sitelink
• Find out more about the UK review of SPAs, including species and site accounts (N.B. the information accessed by these links was published in 2001 and has not been updated since)
• Link to a clickable UK map for geographical browsing for SPAs (N.B the information accessed by this link was published in 2001 and has not been updated since)
• View the SPA site selection guidelines
• Read more about the background to SPA identification
• Find out more about the work of the UK SPA Scientific Working Group