Biodiversity — protected areas

Setting the scene

Biodiversity can be defined as the variety of life, and encompasses diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems. Biodiversity underpins ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services — the benefits people obtain from nature — which are essential for human well-being.

Despite these benefits, its importance for humans, and its intrinsic value, biodiversity continues to be lost. Information reported by European Union (EU) Member States under the Habitats and Birds Directives indicate that 60% of assessments concerning relevant animal and plant species, and 77% of assessments concerning habitat types show unfavourable conservation status. Biodiversity loss is also a concern in non-EU member countries.

Designation of protected areas is an important policy tool to halt biodiversity decline. Areas can be protected under national, European or international legislation, on the basis of widely varying criteria, and with different objectives and management regimes. The SOER 2015 briefing on biodiversity provides an overview of the status, trends and prospects at a European level. This SOER 2015 cross-country comparison focuses on nationally protected areas.

Policies, targets and progress

Historically, protected areas have taken many forms and have been established for different purposes, such as protecting the resource of wild game, preserving natural beauty, or more recently, safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services. The last century has seen a large increase in both the number of protected areas and their spatial coverage worldwide. In addition to national policies, a range of international and European policies are important for protected areas.^[4] These include the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the EU's Birds and Habitats Directives.

The UN CBD 'Aichi' targets adopted in 2010 require countries to ensure that by 2020 at least 17% of their terrestrial and inland water areas, and 10% of their coastal and marine areas, are conserved through a system of protected areas.^[5] The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 sets additional targets relating to species, habitats and ecosystems protection.^[6]

Europe has a high diversity of protected areas, which vary in size, aim and management approach. Analysis shows the most common IUCN categories of terrestrial protected areas amongst countries are national parks (designated as category II), habitat/species management areas (category IV) and protected landscapes/seascapes (category V). Categories IV and V are the most common marine protected areas (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Nationally designated protected areas by IUCN category in 38 European countries

Europe has a large number but relatively small size of protected areas. Approximately 90% of sites are less than 1 000 hectares (ha). This reflects the high pressure on land use, arising from agriculture, transport and urban development. Large-scale nature reserves under category Ib and II occur mostly in countries with a low population density, such as Norway, Iceland, Finland and Sweden. It is difficult to compare other categories across countries because of the interpretation differences that exist. This is particularly true for category V, which comprises areas that are highly variable in character and management.

The two most important European networks of protected areas are Natura 2000 and the Emerald Network. Natura 2000 covers 18% of Europe's land and 4% of its marine waters, with 52 million ha designated as Special Protected Areas (SPAs) under the Birds Directive and 65 million ha as Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) under the Habitats Directive.^[4] The Emerald Network currently includes 37 sites designated by Switzerland, with Norway soon to add 600 sites. 

Natura 2000, in combination with nationally designated protected areas, has resulted in around 1 222 725 km² (or 21% of land and inland waters) and around 338 000 km² (or 5.9% of EU marine areas) being designated. The majority of countries have achieved the 17% Aichi target, although further expansion of the marine network is required to meet policy targets, with countries having to designate in less than 7 years, the same amount of marine protected areas as over the last 20 years.

Figure 2: Complementarity between European designations (Natura 2000 and the Emerald Network) and national designations by share of terrestrial area in 29 European countries

The degree of overlap between Natura 2000 and national designations illustrates the extent to which countries have made use of their nationally designated areas to underpin Natura 2000 and to what extent Natura 2000 sites extend beyond national systems. There are different patterns amongst countries, as some Natura 2000 sites nearly always overlap with national designations. In others, there is little overlap (Figure 2).

Natura 2000 sites mostly overlap with nationally designated sites under IUCN categories I to IV, which aim to protect ecological processes and biodiversity. However, they also overlap with IUCN categories V and VI, particularly in mountainous regions, supporting the idea that Natura 2000 is not restricted to nature reserves but also serves the broader principle of conservation and sustainable use.^[4]

Prospects

The biggest increases in protected areas have occurred in recent decades, and except in the marine environment, substantial additional designations within Europe are not to be expected. However, what is likely to change is the perceived value of protected areas in society, as well as the external pressures affecting their quality.

The benefits that protected areas and resilient ecosystems can provide is increasingly recognised and explicitly acknowledged, for example in the EU's 7th Environment Action Programme, with its priority objective of protecting, conserving and enhancing the EU's natural capital.^[7]

The economic benefits from the Natura 2000 network have been estimated in the order of EUR 200–300 billion per year, while the annual costs associated with managing and protecting the network are approximately EUR 5.8 billion.^[8]

Protected areas not only contribute to essential regulating ecosystem services, such as climate regulation and water purification, but may also support local and national economies through tourism and the supply of forest products, fish and other resources. Although economic arguments have gained more weight and acceptance in recent years, the intrinsic value of protected areas still remains a fundamental reason for their continued protection and management.

Designation of protected areas is not a guarantee of biodiversity protection, as many protected areas are not currently managed at all, or are not managed with a focus on species and ecosystems. Apart from adequate internal management, effective biodiversity conservation within protected areas will require measures to reduce external pressures such as eutrophication and acidification (mainly as the result of agriculture and fossil fuel combustion), fragmentation resulting from infrastructure development, invasive alien species (IAS), and climate change, as well as the impacts these pressures have on species, habitats and ecosystems.

Protected areas can no longer be perceived and managed as isolated units, but need to be understood as part of a wider ecological network. An ecologically coherent network requires both spatial and functional connectivity across borders. The EU Biodiversity Strategy target to establish green infrastructure as a means of maintaining and enhancing ecosystems and their services and to restore at least 15% of degraded ecosystems; the EU Strategy on Green Infrastructure^[9]; and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive aim to strengthen the coherence of protected area networks across Europe. The transfer of information and knowledge will also improve protected area networks by contributing to effective management.