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 ...

(SSSIs) in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, which is part of

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. Merseyside has a population of 1,353,600 making it one of the most densely populated areas of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Geographically, Merseyside is split by the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

which has a surrounding network of canals, rivers and valleys some of which have been created by human activity. Other habitats have been adversely affected by humans including many

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

mosslands. , There are 14 sites designated within this

Area of Search Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in the United Kingdom are areas of conservation (ethic), conservation, consisting of protected areas, recognised for their biological or geological significance. In Northern Ireland an SSSI is called an ...

, of which 10 have been designated due to their biological interest, 1 due to its geological interest, and 3 for both biological and geological interest. 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 (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

or physiographical features. Natural England took over the role of designating and managing SSSIs from

English Nature English Nature was the Executive agency, United Kingdom government agency that promoted the Conservation (ethic), conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006. It was a non-departmental public body ...

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 bo ...

and the

Rural Development Service The Rural Development Service (RDS) was formerly part of the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It ceased to exist on 1 October 2006 following the creation of Natural England. History The RDS was create ...

. Natural England, like its predecessor, uses the 1974–1996 county system and as such the same approach is followed here, rather than, for example, splitting these sites between the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

lists. The data in the table is taken from English Nature's website in the form of citation sheets for each SSSI.''English Nature'' citation sheets for each SSSI. Retrieved on 2006-10-27. (

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

files). For other counties, see List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest by Area of Search.

Sites

Notes

:Data rounded to one decimal place. :Grid reference is based on the

British national grid reference system The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system (OSGB), also known as British National Grid (BNG), is a system of geographic grid references, distinct from latitude and longitude, whereby any location in Great Britain can be described in ...

, also known as OSGB36, and is the system used by the

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

. :Link to maps using the ''Nature on the Map'' service provided by ''English Nature''. :Ribble Estuary was originally two SSSIs: Southport Sanctuary (designated 1966) and Ribble Estuary (1976). The site also extends into the county of

and so can be found on the list of SSSIs in Lancashire.

References

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Sites of Special