Natura 2000

General Information

North Sea

Baltic Sea

Clyde Marine Region

Adriatic Sea

Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Natura 2000

File:Layer Natura 2000.png
Layer Info
Category	Ecology
Sub-category	Protected areas

Description

"Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right. It stretches across all 27 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The aim of the network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats, listed under both the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive."

"Stretching over 18% of the EU’s land area and more than 8% of its marine territory, Natura 2000 is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world. It offers a haven to Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats."

Two types of sites can be designated: Special Protected Areas (SPA), under the Birds Directive, and Sites of Community Importance (SCI), under the Habitats Directive.

Source: European Commission (n.d.), available at ec.europa.eu, accessed on 2022-11-07.

MSP Challenge

Within the MSP Challenge Simulation Platform it is possible to edit, add or remove Natura 2000 sites. While editing Natura 2000 sites, users can select the option to also change the fishing effort of one or more fleets within the sea basin.

Return to Protected Areas

Types

• No Protection
• Habitats Directive
• Birds Directive

Metadata

Data Source

Protected planet

Original Title

Not available

Description

Not available

Creation Date

Not available. Implemented on 2016/12.

Methodology

The layer was reprojected to Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area (EPSG:3035). The geometries were simplified and the smaller geometries were removed to optimise the rendering.

North Sea Digitwin Edition

In the North Sea Digitwin edition the data is the same as in the Sand Extraction Edition.

Sand Extraction Edition

The Natura 2000 locations layer is more extensive than the Digitwin version, encompassing a broader range of protected areas. This version includes both inland and coastal regions, providing a comprehensive overview of biodiversity conservation sites.

Types

• Both SPA and SCI
• SCI (Special Conservation Interest)
• SPA (Special Protection Areas)

Metadata

Data Source

Emodnet

Creation Date

October 2024.

Methodology

The inland geometries were simplified to 2.7% using Mapshaper. Polygons were then converted to single parts. Overlapping inland geometries were manually removed and assigned the correct type.

Types

• No protection
• Active Demersal Fleet Protection
• Passive Demersal Fleet Protection
• Pelagic Fleet Protection

Metadata

Data Source

Retrieved from Helcom on 2019 January.

Copyright holder: Directorate-General for Environment (DG Environment).

Original Title

Natura 2000 sites

Description

"Extraction of the Natura 2000 spatial dataset by EEA (http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/natura-1). The dataset is "Natura 2000 public end 2010" spatial dataset (latest update: 22 Mar 2011) downloaded from EEA website 13th of May 2013 and extracted areas that are within or proximity of the Baltic sea coastline dataset."

Description retrieved from HELCOM's metadata page for this resource (2021-08-26).

Creation Date

Creation date not available. Latest update: 2011-03-24.

Methodology

The layer was reprojected to Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area (EPSG:3035). The geometries were simplified and the smaller geometries were removed to optimise the rendering.

Western Baltic Sea

The Natura 2000 layer in the Western Baltic Sea Edition remains consistent with that featured in the Baltic Sea edition.

Types

• No protection against fishing
• No nephrops fishing
• No scallops fishing
• No demersal fishing
• No seine fishing
• Habitats Directive
• Birds Directive
• No pots and creel fishing

Metadata

Data Source

Data provided by project partner (Marine Scotland).

Original Title

Not available.

Description

Not available.

Creation Date

Not available. Data provided on 2017/12.

Methodology

The layer was reprojected to Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area (EPSG:3035). The geometries were simplified and the smaller geometries were removed to optimise the rendering.

Types

• Sites of Community Importance
• Special Protected Areas

Metadata

Data Source

Provided by project partner CNR-ISMAR based on the Italian Ministry of environment for Italy and EMODnet for the rest of the Adriatic.

Original Title

Italian Ministry of environment: Not available

EMODnet: Natura 2000

Description

Italian Ministry of environment: Not available

EMODnet: Abstract as in EMODnet (retrieved on 2022-11-21):

"The dataset on Natura 2000 sites was created in 2014 by Cogea for the European Marine Observation and Data Network. It is entirely based on spatial data from the European Environmental Agency (EEA), plus additional info, links and selected EEA data joined to the feature attributes, as well as a calculation by Cogea of marine and coastal location of features. It is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu). 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). The dataset covers the whole EU. Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020, it ceased to be part of the EEA’s institutional networks and governance. In the webmap the EEA dataset has been filtered by Cogea to show only (i) marine sites, i.e. sites with a marine area percentage higher than 0 (as calculated by the EEA) and (ii) sites that, even if not identified as marine by the EEA, intersect the EEA coastline or that are within a distance of 1 km from the coastline (using a 1 km inner buffer from the EEA coastline). In both cases the COAST_MAR field value=1. The EEA coastline dataset is available at https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/eea-coastline-for-analysis-2. Compared with the previous version, this one includes the updated dataset 'Natura 2000 End 2021', published by the EEA in April 2021. For further information (e.g. biogeographic region, directive, habitats, sites, impact, management, species and metadata) please visit the EEA's website hosting the Natura 2000 tabular data."

Creation Date

Not available. Update from 2020.

Methodology

The geometries were simplified and the smaller geometries were removed to optimise the rendering.

Types

• SPA (Special Protection Areas)
• SCI (Special Conservation Interest)
• Both SPA and SCI

Metadata

Data Source

EMODnet

Original Title

Natura 2000

Description

EMODnet: Abstract as in EMODnet (retrieved on 2022-11-21):

"The dataset on Natura 2000 sites was created in 2014 by Cogea for the European Marine Observation and Data Network. It is entirely based on spatial data from the European Environmental Agency (EEA), plus additional info, links and selected EEA data joined to the feature attributes, as well as a calculation by Cogea of marine and coastal location of features. It is available for viewing and download on EMODnet - Human Activities web portal (www.emodnet-humanactivities.eu). 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). The dataset covers the whole EU. Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020, it ceased to be part of the EEA’s institutional networks and governance. In the webmap the EEA dataset has been filtered by Cogea to show only (i) marine sites, i.e. sites with a marine area percentage higher than 0 (as calculated by the EEA) and (ii) sites that, even if not identified as marine by the EEA, intersect the EEA coastline or that are within a distance of 1 km from the coastline (using a 1 km inner buffer from the EEA coastline). In both cases the COAST_MAR field value=1. The EEA coastline dataset is available at https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/eea-coastline-for-analysis-2. Compared with the previous version, this one includes the updated dataset 'Natura 2000 End 2021', published by the EEA in April 2021. For further information (e.g. biogeographic region, directive, habitats, sites, impact, management, species and metadata) please visit the EEA's website hosting the Natura 2000 tabular data."

Creation Date

2015-08-31, reviewed on 2022-05-11.

Methodology

The geometries were simplified with 100m tolerance and the layer was reprojected to Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area (EPSG:3035).