List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire

This article is about SSSIs in Leicestershire. For other counties, see List of SSSIs by Area of Search.
Ulverscroft Valley
The stream running through Lea Meadows has white-clawed crayfish and brook lampreys, both of which are legally protected.[1] It is part of Ulverscroft Valley.

Leicestershire is a county in the East Midlands of England with an area of 833 square miles (2,160 km2),[2] and a population according to the 2011 census of 980,000.[3] Leicester City Council is a unitary authority,[4] and the rest of the county is administered by Leicestershire County Council at the top level, with seven district councils in the second tier, Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton, North West Leicestershire and Oadby and Wigston.[5]

In England, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) are designated by Natural England, a non-departmental public body which is responsible for protecting England's natural environment. Designation as an SSSI gives legal protection to the most important wildlife and geological sites.[6] As of January 2018, there are seventy-six SSSIs in the county,[7] fifty-seven of which are designated for their biology, twelve for their geology and seven for both criteria.

There are nineteen Geological Conservation Review sites, six Nature Conservation Review sites, one Special Area of Conservation, three national nature reserves, two are common land, and three contain scheduled monuments. One site is a local nature reserve, thirteen are managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, and one by the National Trust. The largest site is Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir at 399.3 hectares (987 acres). It has rocks dating to the Ediacaran period around 600 million years ago, and is very important for the study of Precambrian palaeontology.[8] The smallest is Gipsy Lane Pit at 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres), which is important to mineralogists as it is rich in sulphides, some of which are unidentified.[9]

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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference leam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Leicestershire". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Our Population". Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  4. ^ "About us". Leicester City Council. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Find your local council". Leicestershire County Council. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Designation". Natural England. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Designated Sites View: Leicestershire". Natural England. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference bradcite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference gipsycite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).