Natura 2000
Natura 2000
One of the most ambitious objectives of Directive 92/43/EEC is the creation of a coherent ecological network, the Natura 2000 Network, made up of the sites declared in accordance with Directive 79/409/EEC (now replaced by Directive 2009/147/EC) as Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) (Special Area of Conservation for Birds), as well as those designated for the conservation of Annex I habitats and wild flora and fauna species listed in Annex II of Directive 92/43/EEC, designated in their initial phase as Sites of Community Importance (SCI) (Sites of Community Importance) and in their final phase as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
According to data provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment at the end of 2023, the Natura 2000 Network is made up of more than 27,000 sites, covering almost 1.3 million km2, representing 18.6% of the land surface and 9% of the marine surface of the European Union (EUR27). It includes 5,432 SPAs, with an area of 849,776 km2, represented in 878 marine SPAs, representing an area of 321,330 km2. As for SCIs/SACs, their number amounts to 23,771, covering an area of 1,008,032 km2, with marine environments represented in 2,228 SCIs/SACs, covering an area of 416,181 km2.