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Protected areas data for Thames River Basin District
There are many areas where the water environment is especially
valued. These areas include rare wildlife habitats, bathing waters and
areas where drinking water is abstracted. These areas are known as
protected areas and their uses are given particular legal protection.
*Ramsar sites are not protected areas under the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017. However they are treated in line with Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA) as a matter of Government policy. Most Ramsar sites coincide with SACs and/or SPAs, but a small number are designated as Ramsar sites only. These are included in the water-dependent site condition data.
**Includes SSSI units underlying European sites and Ramsar sites where the habitat is water-dependent. The "RBMP-favourable" category in these tables includes units where any reasons for not being in "favourable condition", as far as can be ascertained, do not relate to the water-dependent features. As a result, all condition categories have the prefix "RBMP" to distinguish these from conventional SSSI condition reporting, in which pressures not relevant to river basin planning are included in determining site condition. Data retrieved 2019. Methodology changes mean this data does not form a continuous series with data reported in 2015.