Weymouth, Dorset to the main town centre. There are 11 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the borough, which cover an area of , and there are 37 other Nature Conservation Designations. Situated approximately halfway along the Jurassic Coast, Weymouth is a gateway town to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which includes of the Dorset and east Devon coast that is important for its geology and landforms. The South West Coast Path has two routes around Weymouth and Portland—one around its coast, and one along the South Dorset Downs, which reduces the path's length by . The path is the United Kingdom's
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention the World Heritage List and the way to it is to be found in Chapter 2. Before properties can be proposed for inscription as a World Heritage Site, they must be on the tentative lists of the States Parties. The properties must be of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) which means "cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity". There are ten criteria for the assessment of OUV. Criteria (i)-(vi) for cultural heritage, (vii)-(x) for natural heritage. Properties nominated under criteria (i)