Special Areas of Conservation

Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are those which have been given greater protection under the European legislation of The Habitat's Directive.
They have been designated because of a possible threat to the special habitats or species which they contain and to provide increased protection to a variety of animals, plants and habitats of importance to biodiversity both on a national and international scale.

Download Managing Natura 2000 Sites (.PDF 787Kb)

Download Assessment of plans and projects significantly affecting Natura 2000 sites (.PDF 670Kb)

There are currently 57 SACs designated in Northern Ireland and 54 of them are featured on the map below.

To find out about the Northern Ireland sites displayed below, pass the cursor over one of the red dots on the map below and the site name will appear. To find out details about each site, click on the red dot. This will take you into the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) Website which gives details of all the SACs in the UK.