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Links to Member States' Natura 2000 webpages
Building a Geographic Information System for Natura 2000
Structure of the Natura 2000 Database
Natura 2000 is an ecological network composed of sites designated under the
Birds Directive (Special Protection Areas, SPAs)
and the Habitats Directive
(Sites of Community Importance, SCIs, and Special Areas of Conservation, SACs).
For each Natura 2000 site, national authorities
have submitted a standard data form (SDF)
that contains an extensive description of the site and
its ecology. The European Topic Centre for Biological Diversity (ETC/BD),
based in Paris, is responsible for validating this
data and creating an EU wide descriptive database.
The spatial data (borders of sites) submitted by each Member State is integrated into a
spatial database and, after validation with a specifically developed GIS tool,
linked to the descriptive data. Any problems
identified during this process are brought to the attention of the concerned Member States, with a view
to ensure that a high quality, reliable database can be developed.
Access to Natura 2000 data
The Commission envisages facilitating public access to all available information (except sensitive information relating to certain endangered species) through a web-based Geographical Information System (GIS). The development of such a system is currently in progress and should see the light in the course of 2009 with the support of the European Environment Agency (EEA). For the moment the GIS is available to the Commission and EC-funded initiatives.
Many Member States have published their Natura 2000 information already on national webpages. Please find below a table with an overview on those webpages per country. Natura 2000 information is also available at the following links:
Natura 2000 Area Calculation
The table below gives an overview of an area calculation that has been elaborated by analyzing the spatial data with a Geographical Information System (GIS). By way of this method, it is possible to calculate an overall figure for the Natura 2000 network in the EU, which takes into account the overlaps of sites designated under the Birds (SPAs) and those under the Habitats (SCIs) directive. The results are split up in terrestrial and marine areas. For the terrestrial area, results are reported as absolute numbers (km²) as well as ratios of the national terrestrial areas. Results for the marine area are only shown as absolute numbers. All calculations are based on the same approach, i.e. summing up the area of SCIs and SPAs by member state and correcting the result by deducting the amount of overlap between SCI and SPA.
A detailed split up table, based on the descriptive database provided by Member States under both directives, called the Natura 2000 Barometer, can be found here. Please be aware that there might be discrepancies between the Natura 2000 Barometer and the table presented below due to the different datasources used: the descriptive database for the Natura 2000 Barometer, the spatial database for the calculation table below.
Area Calculation "snapshot" as of July 2009
Detailed explanatory note on Natura 2000 area calculations.
Natura 2000 Maps
EU:
Biogeographical Regions: visit this page
Member States: You can find a map for each Member State in the table below.
Links to Member States' Natura 2000 webpages
 : Opens a map in PDF format
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Austria
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Belgium
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Bulgaria
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Cyprus
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Czech Republic
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Denmark
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Estonia
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Finland
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France
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Germany
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Greece
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Hungary
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Ireland
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Italy
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Latvia
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Lithuania
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Luxembourg
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Malta
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Netherlands
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Poland
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Portugal
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Slovenia
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Spain
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Sweden
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United Kingdom
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