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Natura 2000 Barometer
Welcome to the Natura barometer!
The Natura 2000 Barometer gives an evaluation on the progress made in establishing the Natura 2000
network, both under the Birds and the Habitats Directives.
It is based on information on number of sites and areas covered,
as indicated by Member States and is published in the Natura 2000 Newsletter.
The statistics are provided twice a year by the European
Topic Centre on Biological Diversity in Paris. Newest statistics
The Barometer
Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive)
Sites of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)
How to read the Natura Barometer
- The Natura Barometer is based on
information officially transmitted by Member States.
- Numerous sites have been designated
according to both nature Directives, either in their entirety
or partially. It is therefore not possible to combine
the numbers implemented under the two directives to get
an overall figure for Natura 2000.
- The surface area percentage relates
only to the terrestrial area that has been designated,
which is the overall SPA (Birds Directive), proposed SCIs,
SCI or SAC (Habitats Directive) area, not including the
marine area. Some Member States have designated substantial
portions of their marine waters. These are included in
the number of sites and areas proposed but not in the
percentage surface area. The
sufficiency of national proposals for several marine habitats
and species cannot be concluded, as further work is needed
for the successful application of Natura 2000 under both
directives, especially in the area of offshore marine
environment.
- Several Member States have proposed
large areas including “buffer zones”, while others have
proposed only the core areas. In both cases, Article 6
of the Habitats Directive also applies to new activities,
which are foreseen outside a Natura 2000 site but likely
to affect it.
- The 12 new Member States which acceded
to the EU on 1 May 2004 and 1 January 2007, had a duty to classify SPAs and
propose SCIs by the date of their accession. All countries
have submitted their lists and evaluations are ongoing.
- The global assessment of national lists
may be revised upwards or downwards, following more complete
scientific analysis of the data, particularly at the relevant
biogeographical seminars.
Commentary on progress
The existing barometer monitors progress in the implementation of both the Habitats and the Birds Directives in all 27 countries up to November 2009.
Since the last barometer was issued in December 2008, progress has been made in a number of countries. Poland, Lithuania and Spain have significantly increased the number of both SPA s and SCIs within their respective countries. Poland’s SPA list is now considered largely complete. The Czech Republic has also added new sites to its SCI list.
Following the increased focus on completing the Natura 2000 Network for the marine environment, another biogeographical seminar was held in Sopot, Poland, from 23 to 25 November 2009, this time for the Baltic Sea region.
France, Denmark and the Netherlands have all added significant new marine areas to their SCI lists and/or SPA lists. As a result, the total marine area included in the Natura 2000 Network for each of these countries has more than doubled. In France the increase in marine area is over fourfold.
With regard to evaluating the completeness of national SPA networks, there is no biogeographical screening process, but the Commission makes use of different scientific references, including national inventories, where they exist, and the Important Bird Areas’ (IBAs) publications of BirdLife International.
New Statistics
Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive)
Special Protection Areas - Update of December 2009
Sites of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)
Sites of Community Importance - Update of December 2009
Distance to target
State of progress by Member States in reaching sufficiency for the Habitat Directive Annex I habitats and Annex II species:
Source: DG ENV, EU27, marine area excluded, June 2008
State of progress by Biogeographic region in reaching sufficiency for the Habitat Directive Annex I habitats and Annex II species:
Source: DG ENV, EU27, marine area excluded, June 2008
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