Sites of Special Scientific Interest
(asked on 8th December 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the condition of Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
Answered by
Mary Creagh
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As of December 2025, around 41% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) features are in favourable condition across all of England, and the percentage in favourable or unfavourable recovering condition is around 62%.
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) published on 1 December sets out our ambition to bring 75% of SSSIs into favourable condition by 2042.
In the EIP, we have also set an interim target for 50% of SSSI features to have actions on track to achieve favourable condition by December 2030, which will support the achievement of the 2042 ambition.