The County Borough benefits from a rich and distinctive natural
heritage which includes highly valued landscapes and
biodiversity sites. The landscape of the countryside is
primarily characterised by steeply sloping valley sides with
their high ridges and open moorland. Much of this landscape has,
however, been modified through human activity over the centuries
and this is reflected in two historic landscape designations,
namely the Merthyr Tydfil Landscape of Outstanding Historic
Interest and the Gelligaer Common Landscape of Special Historic
Interest. In biodiversity terms, the County Borough has two
sites of special scientific interest (SSSI), one local nature
reserve (LNR), approximately sixty sites of importance for
nature conservation (SINC) and numerous protected and priority
species. This important environmental resource must be managed
sensitively and new development within these areas must be
appropriate and controlled to prevent harm. The Local
Development Plan (LDP) seeks to achieve this through a