European Union Natura 2000

• DATE: Birds Directive, April 2, 1979; Habitats Directive, May 21, 1992

Natura 2000 was established to protect endangered species and regions in the European Union.

Background

The geography of the European Union includes nine different biogeographical regions. This large diversity of European ecosystems and landscapes offers a variety of different habitats for fauna and flora: arctic and high-alpine rocks and glaciers, areas of moderate climate, marine ecosystems, and arid areas and deserts. Estimates indicate that more than 40 percent of mammals, 15 percent of bird species, and 45 percent of reptiles in Europe are endangered or threatened.

While policies for environmental protection and nature in protected areas have a rather long history, environmental protection and nature conservation policies were not accounted for in the founding documents of the European Union, such as the Treaty of Rome (1958). At the beginning of the 1970s, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, the European Commission finally developed environmental policy programs. The Single European Act (1985) and, later, the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) included environmental protection in the European treaties. The Birds Directive, emphasizing the conservation of birds, was passed in 1979; however, the Habitats Directive, establishing a European network of protected areas, was not established until 1992. Hence, the European Union’s Natura 2000 stipulations are part of the European Union’s Sustainable Development Strategy and of the Environment Action Programme of the European Community, the latter of which has multiple editions. The importance of conservation also has been widely acknowledged in many European Union policies of other fields, such as in the European Spatial Planning Strategy and the Common Agricultural Policy.

In 2022, there were 27,193 Natura 2000 sites. Collectively, these sites covered roughly 18.6 percent of the European Union's land and 9 percent of its marine territory. This marked a pattern of steady growth from the program's induction. However, Natura 2000 experienced a sharp reduction in territory in 2020, when the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union.

Provisions

The Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive can be considered the fundamental documents of joint European Union nature conservation policies. The Habitats Directive is based on two policies. A network of protected areas (Natura 2000 network) has been established in all member countries, and a strict framework for species conservation has been instituted. Individual member countries are no longer free to decide which nature conservation policies should be pursued if the ecosystems or species endangered or threatened are of community interest. However, all member states established their own legal regulations regarding nature conservation much earlier than the joint European framework.

The Habitats Directive aims at maintaining biodiversity by means of a common framework for the conservation of wildlife (fauna and flora) and of habitats of community interest. Member states are obliged to protect “special protection areas” (SPAs) and “sites of community interest” (SCIs). The directive includes several appendixes where biodiversity elements of community interest are listed, such as natural habitats, animal and plant species, and the definition of “priority” or “strict protection” habitats and species. European Union member countries who find habitats or species of community interest on their territory are obliged to set up conservation areas and management plans and to report to the European Commission about the concrete conservation policies. For instance, SPAs (Natura 2000 sites) are established based on the annex of the Habitats Directive, reported by the member state to the European Commission, which includes the site in a list of habitats of community interest. When this has been done, the area is established as protected. Failure of any EU member country to report sites of community interest is subject to charges before the European Court of Justice.

An important provision of Natura 2000 is that member states are obliged to guarantee that habitats of community interest are conserved and any deterioration of the habitat is avoided. Member states also have to initiate the management of landscapes and habitats of special importance for the migration, dispersal, and genetic exchange of wildlife; establish strict protection of threatened fauna and flora; explore possibilities of reintroducing extinct wildlife; and prevent the nonselective taking, killing, or capturing of wildlife listed in the directive. Even if the member state does not formally establish a Natura 2000 site for a priority habitat or species, it is nevertheless protected under European Union law.

The Natura 2000 regulations not only provide for the conservation of biodiversity but also establish the possibilities for co-financing conservation measures. Implementation of Natura 2000 is estimated to cost about 6.1 billion euros ($8.6 billion) per year. One of the financial instruments set up for co-financing is the “LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity” program. It is specifically designed to contribute to the implementation of Natura 2000 in member states and to support the establishment and management of protected areas.

The European Union and its member states are signatories of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The European Union has also committed itself to the goal of halting biodiversity loss. In order to support this goal, the European Commission adopted a Biodiversity Action Plan in 2006, which followed earlier strategies such as the Biodiversity Strategy of 1998. The strategy encompasses the European Union’s commitment to conserving global biodiversity, addressing issues of biodiversity and change, and implementing a comprehensive knowledge base regarding the conservation of biodiversity. Natura 2000 may serve as a nature conservation model for other parts of the world.

Impact on Resource Use

The Natura 2000 regulations are progressive in terms of their strict regulatory framework and the concept of establishing a consistent, coherent, and representative European ecological network of protected areas. Furthermore, the number of sites set up is impressive. The Natura 2000 program includes more than 27,000 SCIs covering 18.6 percent of the European Union's land and 9 percent of its marine territory. While the Natura 2000 frameworks provide a coherent and strong basis for conserving biodiversity, they need to be implemented effectively in all member states. Many areas of community interest are still “paper parks” without concrete management plans or funds for administering the European Union directives’ requirements. The Biodiversity Action Plans, published assessments of the EU’s biodiversity policies, revealed that it was unlikely that the European Union would be able to meet its aims of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. Policies therefore have to concentrate on the finalization of the Natura 2000 network, provide adequate financial resources for establishing and managing the sites, and implement the necessary action and management plans in the member countries. Of specific importance in this context is the support of Natura 2000 sites in the new European Union member countries in Central and Eastern Europe that significantly contribute to the natural endowment of the European Union. Funding programs for capacity building is important because the management of protected areas is an emerging interdisciplinary professional field.

Bibliography

Bromley, Peter. Nature Conservation in Europe: Policy and Practice. New York: Spon, 1997.

European Communities. The European Union’s Biodiversity Action Plan: Halting the Loss of Biodiversity by 2010—and Beyond. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2008.

Keulartz, Jozef, and Gilbert Leistra, eds. Legitimacy in European Nature Conservation Policy: Case Studies in Multilevel Governance. New York: Springer, 2008.

"Natura 2000 Sites Designated Under the EU Habitats and Birds Directive." European Environment Agency, 19 Dec. 2024, www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/natura-2000-sites-designated-under#:~:text=Established%20in%201992%20to%20safeguard,9%25%20of%20its%20marine%20territory. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.

Rosa, H. D., and J. M. Silva. “From Environmental Ethics to Nature Conservation Policy: Natura 2000 and the Burden of Proof.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 18, no. 2 (2005): 107-130.