A Nature Conservation Review is a 2-volume work by Derek Ratcliffe

Derek Ratcliffe

Derek Almey Ratcliffe was one of the most significant British nature conservationists of the 20th century. He was Chief Scientist for the Nature Conservancy Council at the Monks Wood Experimental Station, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, retiring in 1989...

, published by Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

 in 1977. It set out to identify the most important places for nature conservation in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. It is often known by the acronym NCR, and sites listed in it are termed "NCR sites".

The approach adopted by Ratcliffe was adapted and applied to the selection of sites important for geological conservation in the Geological Conservation Review

Geological Conservation Review

The Geological Conservation Review is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological and geomorphological features of Britain...

. A Marine Nature Conservation Review has also been published.

Volume 1 set out the rationale and methods used, and gave descriptions of the major habitat types.

Volume 2 consisted entirely of a site inventory. Sites were grouped into six major habitat types:

• Coastal sites - 135 sites
• Woodlands - 234 sites
• Lowland grasslands, heaths and scrub - 159 sites
• Open waters - 99 sites
• Peatlands - 116 sites
• Upland grasslands and heaths - 101 sites