CAP CONTEXT INDICATORS

2014-2020

34. NATURA 2000 AREAS

2017 update

1

CONTEXT INDICATOR 34: NATURA 2000 AREAS

In 2016, the

Natura 2000

sites (SPAs +

SCIs) covered

18.2 % of the

terrestrial area of the EU-

28.

The agricultural

and forestry

areas under

Natura 2000

sites in 2016

accounted for almost 11% of

the UAA and

22.9% of the

total forestry

area,

respectively.

The Natura 2000 network is an EU-wide network of nature protection areas

established under the 1992 Habitats Directive. The aim of the network is

to assure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened

species and habitats. It is comprised of Sites of Community Importance

(SCIs) defined under the Habitats Directive, and also incorporates Special

Protection Areas (SPAs), which are designated under the 1979 Birds

Directive1.

Natura 2000 is not a system of strict nature reserves where all human

activities are excluded. Whereas the network will certainly include nature

reserves, most of the land is likely to be privately owned and the emphasis

will be on ensuring that future management is sustainable, both

ecologically and economically.

In 2016, the territory defined as SPA and SCIs covered 12.4% and 13.9%

of the EU-28 terrestrial area, respectively. Globally the Natura 2000 sites

(SPAs + SCIs) covered 18.2% of the terrestrial area of the EU-28 (16.7%

for the EU-15 and 22.2% for the EU-N13).

With the inclusion of the Corine Land Cover classes for natural grassland

and transitional woodland-shrubs in the estimation of UAA and forestry

area, in 2016 the designated sites covered 11.0% of the UAA and 22.9%

of the forestry area of the EU-28. While the share of UAA under Natura

2000 sites was quite similar in the EU-15 (10.2%) and EU-N13 (12.8%),

the share of forestry area under Natura 2000 was much higher in the EU-

N13 (35.4%) than in the EU-15 (18.6%).

The share of UAA under Natura 2000 sites is highest in Croatia (25.7%),

Bulgaria (22.4%) and Slovenia (23.2%) and lowest in Finland (1.2%) and

the United Kingdom (2.5%). The differences among Member States are

even more significant in the area of forestry under Natura 2000, varying

from 6.6% in the United Kingdom to 53.2% in Bulgaria.

1 Reference: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm ,

Natura 2000 viewer http://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/#

Biodiversity Data Centre http://www.eea.europa.eu//themes/biodiversity/dc

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Graph 1 - % UAA under Natura 2000 in 2016

Graph 2 - % forest under Natura 2000 in 2016

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Table 1 - Natura 2000 Areas

Indicator

Subindicator

Measurement

% territory

under

Natura

2000's

Special

Protection

Areas

(SPAs)

% territory

under

Natura

2000's Sites

of

Community

Importance

(SCIs)

% territory

under

Natura

2000's

network

SubdivisionsAgricultural

area

Agricultural

area (including

natural

grassland)

Forest area

Forest area

(including

transitional

woodland-

shrub)

Source

Calculation

Year

Unit

Country

Belgium 10.4 10.7 12.7 7.1 7.2 35.1 35.0

Bulgaria 22.7 30.0 34.5 19.3 22.4 54.0 53.2

Czech Republic 8.9 10.1 14.1 6.1 6.6 26.1 27.5

Denmark 6.0 7.4 8.3 4.3 4.7 15.8 15.9

Germany 11.3 9.4 15.5 10.2 10.6 25.6 25.6

Estonia 13.7 17.2 17.9 4.1 5.7 17.1 18.3

Ireland 6.1 10.2 13.1 3.2 3.7 19.7 18.7

Greece 20.9 16.2 27.1 14.1 18.7 39.7 38.3

Spain 20.1 23.3 27.3 13.8 16.8 41.5 40.6

France 8.0 8.8 12.8 7.1 8.3 18.9 18.9

Croatia 30.1 28.3 36.6 22.3 25.7 45.7 45.0

Italy 13.3 14.2 19.0 7.8 10.8 30.1 30.5

Cyprus 26.7 13.1 28.8 5.6 6.1 57.0 50.6

Latvia 10.2 11.5 11.5 6.5 6.6 13.7 12.3

Lithuania 8.5 9.6 12.4 4.6 4.6 24.4 24.1

Luxembourg 16.1 16.0 27.0 21.1 21.1 41.9 42.0

Hungary 14.8 15.5 21.4 11.9 14.7 43.3 40.3

Malta 5.1 12.7 13.0 7.9 7.9 31.0 31.0

Netherlands 11.5 7.6 13.3 2.9 4.3 37.5 37.4

Austria 12.1 11.0 15.1 9.1 11.5 13.5 13.4

Poland 15.5 10.9 19.6 11.4 11.5 35.1 34.7

Portugal 10.0 17.0 20.7 17.5 18.1 18.6 19.9

Romania 15.3 16.9 22.7 11.1 12.7 38.5 38.6

Slovenia 25.0 32.7 37.9 21.4 23.2 44.4 45.4

Slovakia 26.8 12.0 29.6 15.3 16.0 45.8 46.2

Finland 7.3 14.4 14.4 0.7 1.2 11.0 10.2

Sweden 6.1 13.2 13.3 1.9 4.1 8.7 7.6

United Kingdom 6.6 5.4 8.6 0.9 2.5 6.7 6.6

EU-28 12.4 13.9 18.2 9.3 11.0 23.4 22.9

EU-15 11.0 13.2 16.7 8.3 10.2 19.0 18.6

EU-N13 16.3 15.9 22.2 11.5 12.8 35.9 35.4

2016 2016 2016

% % %

Natura 2000 Barometer

EEA; Natura 2000 spatial

dataset (End 2016) / Corine

Land Cover 2012

EEA; Natura 2000 spatial

dataset (End 2016) / Corine

Land Cover 2012

DG AGRI DG AGRI DG AGRI

C.34 - Natura 2000 Area

% Territory under Natura 2000 % UAA under Natura 2000% forest area under Natura

2000

% UAA under Natura 2000% forest area under Natura

2000

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Map 1 - Natura 2000 network, 2016

Map 2 - Natura 2000: Habitats Directive (SCIs), 2016

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Map 3 - Natura 2000: Birds Directive (SPAs), 2016

Context indicator 34 – Natura 2000 areas

Comments on methodology and data

Data on agricultural and forest areas Despite the lack of data for the following regions, national and EU aggregates were calculated by DG AGRI: — Germany: DE40, DED2D, DED2C, DED2E, DED2F, DED4, DED5 — France: FR9 — Croatia: HR04 — Italy: ITC4C, ITC4D, ITF46, ITF47, ITF48, ITH — Netherlands: NL337, NL338, NL339, NL33A — Finland: FI1B, FI1C, FI1D — United Kingdom: UKD6, UKD7, UKE44, UKE45, UKF24, UKF25, UKG36, UKG37, UKG38, UKG39, UKH24, UKH25 The area of CY and the % corresponds to the area of Cyprus where the Community acquis applies at present, according to protocol 10 of the Accession Treaty of Cyprus. The percentages of UAA and forest under Natura 2000 are estimated using Corine Land Cover classes: — Agricultural areas (2.x.x) with and without Natural grassland (3.2.1) — Forests (3.1.x) with and without Transitional woodland shrub (3.2.4) The 2012 update of the Corine Land Cover inventory (CLC 2012) was used.