Agro-silvopastoral land-use has a long tradition throughout Europe. Depending on the region, wood-pasture occurs as vanishing relic of historical land-use, or still more or less widespread as multiple-use rangeland. A new development is that former intensively managed land is being left to evolve towards wood-pasture as an economically and ecologically favourable alternative. In a review of European wood-pasture habitats we distinguish 24 types based on the geobotanical criteria of region, structure, land-use and tree species composition. The European wood-pasture types may be classified as hemiboreal and boreal (4 types), nemoral old-growth (7), nemoral scrub and coppice (5), meridional old-growth (2), meridional scrub and coppice (4), and grazed orchards (2). Wood-pasture forms part of the cultural heritage of Europe, and may add significantly to the preservation of regional biodiversity. The role of wood-pasture in ecological restoration planning and the possibilities of maintaining or enhancing features of wood-pasture deserve more recognition. Many wood-pastures suffer from regeneration failure and are over-mature. Other threats to wood-pasture include abandonment, intensification, oak disease, overgrazing and clearance. In the European Union Habitats Directive, woodpasture habitats are represented but rather inconsistently. We suggest neglected woodpasture habitat types to be considered for inclusion. Wood-pasture may form an important element for the economic integrity of rural areas aiming to improve ecological quality‚ provided they are managed sustainably.

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This study analyses whether the Natura 2000 network of Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) is able to protect relict species in the taxonomic groups of higher plants, molluscs, dragonflies and damselflies as well as butterflies (only Rhopalocera) in Germany. Altogether, a total of 157 species from all groups are identified as relict species in Germany. Fourteen of these are included in Annexes II, IV or V of the Habitats Directive.Most glacial relicts are well covered by an indirect protection regime of the European Union (EU) Habitats Directive as they occur in 46 of Annex I habitat types, and their occurrences are to a large extent covered by Natura 2000 sites (SCIs). For a few relict species and certain relict plant communities a gap remains in the EU protection regime, which can be filled by a national protection regime, for example, in nature reserves. The best way to protect local relict species is to include them in special management plans for their conservation.

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