The nature conservation agencies for Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England agreed, through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), a common approach to setting objectives and assessing the condition of Sites (Areas) of Special Scientific Interest. The Woodland Lead Coordination Network (LCN) was charged by JNCC with producing guidance on objectives and condition assessment for woodland SSSIs under this approach. This document sets out the results of a series of workshops, discussions and drafts across the agencies. It supercedes as far as the LCN is concerned such previous guidance as was circulated in 1999 for Annex 1 habitats in England, and previous versions of this document sent round in April 2000 and 2001.
This was a working document aimed at staff in the agencies. It was made more widely available, on the basis that its status was as an internal working document. It was to be used in conjunction with other guidance and so some issues such as management planning and explaining what the procedures mean for owners are not considered.