Areas of Special Scientific Interest

Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI ) provide statutory protection for the best examples of Northern Ireland's flora, fauna, geological or physiographical features. An ASSI designation may extend into intertidal areas, to the jurisdictional limit of local authorities - i.e. the mean low water mark in Northern Ireland. There is no provision for marine ASSIs beyond the mean low water mark. ASSIs were first designated under the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985: New ASSIs are designated under the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002. The Order makes it an offence for anyone to intentionally or recklessly damage any natural feature of an ASSI. Ballyquintin Point, on 30 May 1995, was the first declared ASSI to be mapped using GIS: previous to this date all ASSI boundaries were defined on a hardcopy map. Legislative Context: Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. Environment (Northern Ireland) Order) 2002. Supplementary Information: The key ASSI Features for each site are detailed under the following 3 categories: Species (2 species fields are available to facilitate full descriptions), Habitat, Earth Science. Each site can have features in one or more of these categories.