CAP CONTEXT INDICATORS 2014-2020 34. NATURA 2000 AREAS 2017 update
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 Directive 1. 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 1
Graph 1 - % UAA under Natura 2000 in 2016 Graph 2 - % forest under Natura 2000 in 2016 2
Table 1 - Natura 2000 Areas Indicator Subindicator C.34 - Natura 2000 Area % Territory under Natura 2000 % UAA under Natura 2000 % forest area under Natura 2000 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 % UAA under Natura 2000 % forest area under Natura 2000 Subdivisions Agricultural area Agricultural area (including natural grassland) Forest area Forest area (including transitional woodlandshrub) Source 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 Calculation DG AGRI DG AGRI DG AGRI Year 2016 2016 2016 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 3
Map 1 - Natura 2000 network, 2016 Map 2 - Natura 2000: Habitats Directive (SCIs), 2016 4
Map 3 - Natura 2000: Birds Directive (SPAs), 2016 Context indicator 34 Natura 2000 areas Data on agricultural and forest areas Comments on methodology and data 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. 5