Natura 2000 coverage in Europe's seas

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Topics: Biodiversity — Ecosystems

This page was archived on 08 Dec 2020 with reason: Other (New version themes/biodiversity/natura-2000/natura-2000-coverage-in-european-seas-3 was published)

Natura 2000 data refers to information reported by Member States in 2018. Europe's seas are defined by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) marine regions (in bold below) and subregions.

Europe's regional seas (sensu MSFD)	EU part of sea (km²)	Area covered by Natura 2000 (km²)	Total number of Natura 2000 sites	EU waters covered by Natura 2000 (%)	Nearshore zone (0-1 NM) covered by Natura 2000 (%)	Territorial zone (1-12 NM) covered by Natura 2000 (%)	Offshore waters zone (12 NM -END) covered by Natura 2000 (%)
Baltic Sea	368720	57072	954	15.5	32	17	9
North East Atlantic Ocean (NOEA)	4082719	376531	1126	9.2	55	30	6
Celtic Seas	930900	95756	460	10.3	52	25	6
Greater North Sea, incl. the Kattegat and the English Channel	491305	119328	408	24.3	62	36	19
Bay of Biscay and the Iberian Coast	803350	128042	204	15.9	60	34	14
Macaronesia	1857164	33405	70	1.8	31	29	1
Mediterranean Sea	1210508	92230	1270	7.6	43	14	2
Western Mediterranean Sea	659989	57870	531	8.8	53	20	4
Ionian Sea and the Central Mediterranean Sea	240068	14283	173	5.9	53	17	1
Adriatic Sea	120069	6650	386	5.5	38	6	0
Aegean-Levantine Sea	190382	13427	193	7.1	36	7	0
Black Sea	64384	9156	44	14.2	84	51	6
Total	5726331	534989	3392^[1]	9.3	44	22	6

[1] The total number of site polygons is lower than the sum of sites at regional/sub-regional level, because some sites span across different regions or sub-regions.

(¹) The total number of site polygons is lower than the sum of sites at regional/subregional level, because some sites span across different regions or subregions.

NM = nautical miles; END = equidistance or 200 nautical miles.

The methodology and the procedure used for selecting the marine Natura 2000 sites from the 2018 tabular and spatial data are those illustrated in the EEA report 'Spatial analysis of marine protected area networks in Europe's seas' (2015).

Natura 2000 sites located outside the 200 NM in the North East Atlantic Ocean are not considered.

For the definition of Europe's seas, see the data set.

The table was produced by European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters, ETC/ICM. For full details, please see the report Spatial analysis of marine protected area networks in Europe's seas.

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14 Nov 2018 - Natura 2000 coverage in Europe's seas

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