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Special Areas of Conservation

Habitats list

This table provides a list of Annex I habitat types which occur in the UK and for which one or more SAC is designated.

A list of habitats and species which have priority status (a priority habitat or species is one in danger of disappearance and for which there is a particular responsibility to conserve) is available via The National Archives.

Marine, coastal and halophytic habitatsNo. of SACs

1110 Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time36
1130 Estuaries18
1140 Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide30
1150 Coastal lagoons20
1160 Large shallow inlets and bays14
1170 Reefs59
1180 Submarine structures made by leaking gases3
1210 Annual vegetation of drift lines13
1220 Perennial vegetation of stony banks12
1230 Vegetated sea cliffs of the Atlantic and Baltic coasts40
1310 Salicornia and other annuals colonising mud and sand13
1320 Spartina swards (Spartinion maritimae)2
1330 Atlantic salt meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae)26
1340 Inland salt meadows1
1420 Mediterranean and thermo-Atlantic halophilous scrubs (Sarcocornetea fruticosi)4
Coastal sand dunes and continental dunesNo. of SACs

2110 Embryonic shifting dunes24
2120 Shifting dunes along the shoreline with Ammophila arenaria ('white dunes')34
2130 Fixed dunes with herbaceous vegetation ('grey dunes')32
2140 Decalcified fixed dunes with Empetrum nigrum2
2150 Atlantic decalcified fixed dunes (Calluno-Ulicetea)10
2160 Dunes with Hippophae rhamnoides2
2170 Dunes with Salix repens ssp. argentea (Salicion arenariae)14
2190 Humid dune slacks26
21A0 Machairs8
2250 Coastal dunes with Juniperus spp.2
2330 Inland dunes with open Corynephorus and Agrostis grasslands1
Freshwater habitatsNo. of SACs

3110 Oligotrophic waters containing very few minerals of sandy plains (Littorelletalia uniflorae)4
3130 Oligotrophic to mesotrophic standing waters with vegetation of the Littorelletea uniflorae and/or of the Isoëto-Nanojuncetea47
3140 Hard oligo-mesotrophic waters with benthic vegetation of Chara spp.15
3150 Natural eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion or Hydrocharition-type vegetation16
3160 Natural dystrophic lakes and ponds23
3170 Mediterranean temporary ponds1
3180 Turloughs2
3260 Water courses of plain to montane levels with the Ranunculion fluitantis and Callitricho-Batrachion vegetation23
Temperate heath and scrubNo. of SACs

4010 Northern Atlantic wet heaths with Erica tetralix72
4020 Temperate Atlantic wet heaths with Erica ciliaris and Erica tetralix4
4030 European dry heaths117
4040 Dry Atlantic coastal heaths with Erica vagans1
4060 Alpine and Boreal heaths33
4080 Sub-Arctic Salix spp. scrub15
Sclerophyllous scrub (matorral)No. of SACs

5110 Stable xerothermophilous formations with Buxus sempervirens on rock slopes (Berberidion p.p.)1
5130 Juniperus communis formations on heaths or calcareous grasslands17
Natural and semi-natural grassland formationsNo. of SACs

6130 Calaminarian grasslands of the Violetalia calaminariae20
6150 Siliceous alpine and boreal grasslands29
6170 Alpine and subalpine calcareous grasslands15
6210 Semi-natural dry grasslands and scrubland facies: on calcareous substrates (Festuco-Brometalia), ( note that this includes the priority feature "important orchid rich sites"). 59
6230 Species-rich Nardus grassland, on siliceous substrates in mountain areas (and submountain areas in continental Europe)22
6410 Molinia meadows on calcareous, peaty or clayey-silt-laden soils (Molinion caeruleae)33
6430 Hydrophilous tall herb fringe communities of plains and of the montane to alpine levels28
6510 Lowland hay meadows (Alopecurus pratensis, Sanguisorba officinalis)5
6520 Mountain hay meadows2
Raised bogs and mires and fensNo. of SACs

7110 Active raised bogs54
7120 Degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration33
7130 Blanket bogs77
7140 Transition mires and quaking bogs41
7150 Depressions on peat substrates of the Rhynchosporion32
7210 Calcareous fens with Cladium mariscus and species of the Caricion davallianae13
7220 Petrifying springs with tufa formation (Cratoneurion)17
7230 Alkaline fens49
7240 Alpine pioneer formations of the Caricion bicoloris-atrofuscae15
Rocky habitats and cavesNo. of SACs

8110 Siliceous scree of the montane to snow levels (Androsacetalia alpinae and Galeopsietalia ladani)29
8120 Calcareous and calcshist screes of the montane to alpine levels (Thlaspietea rotundifolii)11
8210 Calcareous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation35
8220 Siliceous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation33
8240 Limestone pavements11
8310 Caves not open to the public6
8330 Submerged or partially submerged sea caves17
ForestsNo. of SACs

9120 Atlantic acidophilous beech forests with Ilex and sometimes also Taxus in the shrublayer (Quercion robori-petraeae or Ilici-Fagenion)7
9130 Asperulo-Fagetum beech forests11
9160 Sub-Atlantic and medio-European oak or oak-hornbeam forests of the Carpinion betuli2
9180 Tilio-Acerion forests of slopes, screes and ravines48
9190 Old acidophilous oak woods with Quercus robur on sandy plains7
91A0 Old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum in the British Isles71
91C0 Caledonian forest12
91D0 Bog woodland17
91E0 Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)36
91J0 Taxus baccata woods of the British Isles13