National Scenic Areas

National Scenic Areas (NSAs) are Scotland's only national landscape designation, and defined as areas “of outstanding scenic value in a national context” for which special protection measures are required. The designation’s purpose is both to identify our finest scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development. NSAs are broadly equivalent to the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty found in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are regarded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Category V Protected Landscapes. There are 40 NSAs in total covering roughly 1 million hectares (13% of Scotland).
 
Citation proposal
. National Scenic Areas. Scottish Government https://services.mspdata.eu:/geonetwork/srv/api/records/13396739-7602-4428-85fd-95a5d7e208a1

Simple

Alternate title
NSAs
Date ( Creation )
1998-01-01
Identifier
www.gov.scot / SG_NationalScenicAreas
Presentation form
mapDigital Digital map

  Publisher

  Point of contact

Maintenance and update frequency
asNeeded As needed
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 ( Theme )
  • Protected sites
IPSV - Integrated Public Sector Vocabulary, version 2
  • Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Access constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
Other constraints
No limitations on public access
Use limitation
The following attribution statement must be used to acknowledge the source of the information: Copyright Scottish Government, contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right (insert year)
Spatial representation type
vector Vector
Denominator
50000
Metadata language
eng English
Topic category
  • Environment
Geographic identifier
GB-SCT

 

Date ( Revision )
2007-12-13

N
S
E
W


Supplemental Information
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Countryside/Heritage/Areas
Reference system identifier
EPSG / OSGB 1936 / British National Grid (EPSG:27700) / 7.4
Distribution format
  • WMS (1.3.0 )

  • WFS (2.0.0 )

  • ESRI REST (1.0 )

  • ESRI Shapefile (1.0 )

OnLine resource
National Scenic Areas  

OGC View Service

OnLine resource
National_Scenic_Areas  

OGC Feature Download Service

OnLine resource
National Scenic Areas  

ESRI REST Service

OnLine resource
Protected Sites  

ATOM Download Service

OnLine resource
National Scenic Areas  

ESRI Shapefile Download

Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Statement

NSAs were first identified by the Countryside Commission for Scotland (a predecessor to Scottish Natural Heritage) in 1978 and described in the Commission’s report "Scotland's Scenic Heritage". While originally established in 1980 under planning legislation, NSAs were formally designated under The Town and Country Planning (National Scenic Areas) (Scotland) Designation Directions 2010 in December 2010.

The dataset was digitised against Ordnance Survey 1:50K raster data in 1998 and follows the textual description in the Countryside Commission report. The textual description contains ambiguities and the maps associated with the text (also in the publication) don't always agree. The dataset covers all NSA's including offshore extensions - no new areas have since been identified. Most areas are in private ownership although the Forestry Commission has some sizeable land holdings.

Metadata

File identifier
13396739-7602-4428-85fd-95a5d7e208a1   XML
Metadata language
eng English
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Date stamp
2018-12-27
Metadata standard name
ISO 19115:2003/19139
Metadata standard version
1.0

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