Location: Environment and Planning » Countryside » Landscape and Environment » Nature Conservation and wildlife » Countryside and Nature Reserves

Countryside and Nature Reserves

As well as its extensive countryside, the Borough encompasses sections of the Chilterns Area of Natural Beauty and has sites of international, national and local importance for nature conservation. These sites cover a total of 19843 hectares.

Sites of international importance are designated through the European Union (Special Areas of Conservation, SAC, and Special Protection Areas, SPA) and by international convention (Wetlands of International Importance or Ramsar sites). Internationally important sites wholly or partially within the Royal Borough are:

International Biodiversity Designation	Local Area
Chiltern Beechwoods SAC	Bisham Woods, owned by Woodlands Trust
South West London Water Bodies SPA and Ramsar	Wraysbury and Hythe End Gravel Pits and Wraysbury No1 Gravel Pit
Thames Basin Heaths SPA	Chobham Common
Thursley, Ash Pirbright and Chobham SAC	Chobham Common
Windsor Forest and Great Park SAC	Windsor Forest and Windsor Great Park, owned by the Crown Estate

Sites of national importance for flora or fauna

11 Sites of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI

Sites of local importance

104 Wildlife heritage sites (WHS), covering 1439 hectares
6 Local nature reserves (LNR)

The Borough itself owns and manages several sites of local importance:

Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve, Horton (LNR) - grassland and reedbeds adjacent to the River Colnbrook
Braywick Park, Maidenhead (LNR) - also the home of the Borough's Braywick Nature Centre
The Gullet, Maidenhead (LNR) - a woodland site
Hemwood Dell, Windsor (WHS) - a woodland site
Ockwells Park, Maidenhead (LNR) - hay meadow with copses
Sutherland Grange, Windsor (LNR) - an ancient grassland adjacent to the River Thames

The Borough also has 300km of rights of way, inclduing the Thames Path National Trail. For further information, please see the Public Rights of Way webpages.

Information on key environmental schemes and designations can be accesssed via the government maintained MAGIC website.