Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network to cover threatened species

Abstract

The world's biodiversity is currently in rapid decline -Europe being no exception -with as principal cause a human-mediated global change. The Natura 2000 network is an important conservation tool for European biodiversity; it is a network of natural and semi-natural sites within Europe with high heritage values due to the exceptional flora and fauna they contain. Here, we evaluated the coverage of 300 threatened species by the Natura 2000 network, and determined potential factors influencing the designation of sites and the structure of the network within a country (social, ecological and demographic national factors). Our analysis was based on a coverage ratio between the Natura 2000 sites and distribution maps of threatened European species. We showed that the distributions of a large proportion of threatened species of mammals, birds and reptiles considered in our study were highly covered (above 90%) by the current Natura 2000 network, demonstrating that the Natura 2000 network also covers species not listed in the annexes of the Nature Directives. However, our results confirm that a large proportion of threatened species (some of them listed on the European annexes), especially fishes, are currently poorly covered by the Natura 2000 network. The coverage of species likely seemed to be highly related to national demographic factors, i.e. the proportion of the national urban population. Our analysis also suggested that the designation of sites depends too strongly on governmental politics, economic and cultural criteria, and interactions between society and the environment. A more effective process might be necessary to ensure the Natura 2000 network reaches its potential as the most important and comprehensive network of protected areas intended to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe in the near future.

At the intersection of cultural and natural heritage: Distribution and conservation of the type localities of Italian endemic vascular plants

“…Protected areas vary widely between and within countries and regions, and the varying characteristics include the institution date, conservation focus, effective level of protection, permanence of protection, constancy of protection, ecological scale of protection, type of management, management authority and reference legislation, to cite some of them. In addition, the effectiveness of the selection process and the resulting Natura 2000 network have often been questioned because each country made its designations largely independently, and the designation of sites has been criticised as depending too strongly on governmental politics, economic and cultural criteria, and interactions between society and the environment Fenu et al, 2017;Gruber et al, 2012;Orlikowska et al, 2016;Trochet and Schmeller, 2013). In addition, in their analysis, Trochet and Schmeller (2013) demonstrated that the Natura 2000 network also covers species not listed in the annexes of the Habitats Directive, at least in the case of mammals, birds and reptiles; this might happen also for plants.…”

“…In addition, the effectiveness of the selection process and the resulting Natura 2000 network have often been questioned because each country made its designations largely independently, and the designation of sites has been criticised as depending too strongly on governmental politics, economic and cultural criteria, and interactions between society and the environment Fenu et al, 2017;Gruber et al, 2012;Orlikowska et al, 2016;Trochet and Schmeller, 2013). In addition, in their analysis, Trochet and Schmeller (2013) demonstrated that the Natura 2000 network also covers species not listed in the annexes of the Habitats Directive, at least in the case of mammals, birds and reptiles; this might happen also for plants. Concerns also exist on the role of protected areas, in general, in providing effective biodiversity conservation (Geldmann et al, 2015;Le Saout et al, 2013).…”

How much Biodiversity is in Natura 2000? : the “Umbrella Effect” of the European Natura 2000 protected area network : technical report

“…This suggests that setting Natura 2000 sites is an effective conservation measure which also benefits nontarget species (EEA 2015). Trochet and Schmeller (2013) evaluated the coverage of 300 threatened species by the Natura 2000 network, and identified potential factors influencing the designation of sites and the structure of the network within a country (social, ecological and demographic national factors). The analysis was based on the coverage ratio between the Natura 2000 sites and distribution maps of threatened European species.…”

Scaling in Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation

“…Hence, the coverage of the network for those groups is difficult to determine (Trochet and Schmeller 2013). Insufficient or outdated data is an important problem that appeared during site selection as well as on-going management deliberations and needs to be solved.…”