GMLRC Sites of Biological Importance

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Sites of Biological Importance

About

Sites of Biological Importance or 'SBIs' are areas that have been identified as being of importance for species and habitats. They are part of a national suite of sites also known as Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) and are selected based on their ecological value. The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit (GMEU) runs the SBI Register for, and on behalf of, the ten Greater Manchester Local Authorities

Whilst SBIs do not have statutory protection they are protected from development through national and local planning policy.

In Greater Manchester a grading system is used to reflect the range of the geological and landscape characters of the area, the diversity of the habitats that these support and the degree of urbanisation across the County. The grades are:

Grade A of Regional or County Importance
Grade B of District Importance
Grade C of importance within the identified geographical locality

You can download the SBI Selection Guidelines here. You can also download the SBI Register, for free, under the Open Government Licence v3. The download zip file contains GIS files in TAB, SHP, KML and GeoJSON format. It is important to note that not all SBIs are open to the public.

Every year GMEU surveys 15% of the SBI within each of the ten districts. We produce an annual review of changes. The latest County-wide summary can be downloaded here.

There are currently 536 SBIs on the register, covering some 13,195ha of Greater Manchester. New sites are regularly added as they are discovered or additional information becomes available.

Submit a Candidate SBI

If you would like to suggest a site to be considered please do so by submitting details via the form here.

!STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT!

Site name* Grid reference*double click to add a pin Location description* Describe why the site is of ecological value Have you submitted species records to GMLRC for this site?
You can submit species records from the homepage. We don't always have access to records submitted to other platforms. Landowner details Is there any access to the site? Your name* Your email*

Greater Manchester Ecology Unit,
Dukinfield Town Hall,
King Street,
Dukinfield,
SK16 4LA

0161 342 3123
info@gmwildlife.org.uk

An ALERC member

© GMLRC 2025. View our privacy policy and terms of use or update your mailing preferences. The information on this website has been provided as general information only and the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit can not accept responsibility for loss occasioned after reliance placed on any of the contents of this website. The Greater Manchester Ecology Unit makes no warranty as to the accuracy of site information or contents.