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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 progressThe current barometer reflects data submitted on the implementation of both the Habitats and Birds Directives in all 27 countries up to December 2007. Evaluation of progress is based on the biogeographical seminars.
There have been significant additional SCI proposals and SPA designations by Poland to fill gaps for that country, but further designations are still required. Bulgaria has substantially increased its SCI proposal, which together with that for Romania is subject to ongoing evaluation to determine whether they sufficiently cover the relevant habitats and species (Biogeographical seminar on 9-12 June 2008 for Bulgaria and Romania).
There has been a significant increase in the SPA area for Italy, especially for marine. The United Kingdom has also added significant new SPAs and proposed SCIs. New Natura 2000 sites have also been designated or proposed by France, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria.
No new sites have been established in any of the other Member States. However, there is now additional information on the existing sites, along with updates on the presence of habitats and species.
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 July 2009
Sites of Community Importance (Habitats Directive)
Sites of Community Importance - Update of July 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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