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Natura 2000 coverage in Europe's seas

Page Last modified 19 Jan 2022
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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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Filed under: marine, natura 2000, msfd
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