The Habitats Directive is the EU golden standard for nature conservation, as it lists species and habitats of community interest for the conservation of which Member States must create protected areas. Few of them are in the marine domain: 18 species and 5 habitats.

These protected areas constitute the Natura 2000 Network. In the first stage, Member States nominate protection areas, known as Sites of Community Importance (SCIs), which are thus subject to a preventive protection regime. Afterwards, in a maximum period of 6 years, the corresponding management plans must be drawn up and, once they are ready, the SCIs must be declared to be Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Once SACs are declared, real management of these areas will start through measures designed for conservation of the habitats and species which they shelter.

The SCI proposal has not moved at the same pace in all regions. For example, the Atlantic SCI list was submitted in 2004 and the Mediterranean SCI list was submitted in 2006. Thus, 2012 is the deadline to turn the Mediterranean SCIs into SACs. In addition, this year is the  20^thanniversary of the Habitats Directive.

More specifically, on 21^st September 2012, the Mediterranean coastal countries that are members of the EU must have completed the following tasks:

a)      Drafting the management plans for all the SCIs proposed until 2006, published in the first SCI list for the Mediterranean region.

b)      Declaring all those SCIs to be SACs.

In parallel to this process, the European Commission is currently evaluating, in a number of seminars divided by biogeographic regions, the capacity of the Natura Network as regards the representative nature of the species and habitats present in the protected areas. In the case of the Natura Network for the Mediterranean region, in 2010 the Commission declared, following an exhaustive review performed by experts, that most of the proposals submitted by the countries were “Insufficient”.

20 years after the entry into force of the Habitats Directive, the fact that most countries have not created sufficient protected areas may lead to economic sanctions. The same is the case for management plans and the SAC declaration: the 6-year deadline was over in 2010 for the Atlantic region and in 2012 for the Mediterranean region, and we are now facing a scenario of repeated non-compliance with international conservation objectives, with serious economic and environmental consequences.

What Oceana Does:

Oceana launches expeditions to document the existence of habitats and species requiring protection. With this first-hand information, we make specific conservation proposals which we promote before politicians and social agents so that they can be implemented.

In addition, Oceana is a partner in Spain of the LIFE+ INDEMARES project, whose aim is to document areas of environmental interest so that they can be included in the Natura 2000 network. The organisation has been responsible for studying a sea mount, Seco de los Olivos, in three years of oceanographic campaigns.

Oceana takes active part in the Natura Network monitoring seminars, as well as in European Union forums and events, to promote compliance with the Habitats Directive. In these events, Oceana makes its findings known, as well as other proposals, such as Oceana MedNet, which would contribute to fulfil the obligations established in the directive.

Natura 2000 Learn More:

What is the Habitats Directive?

It is the European directive concerning conservation of the environment, which all Member States must follow through adequate protection and management of the habitats and species of community interest (namely, threatened, vulnerable, rare, and endemic habits and species).

What is a SCI?

A SCI (Site of Community Importance) is a site whose conservation is important for maintenance or recovery of the habitats or species listed in the Habitats Directive.

What is a SAC?

A SAC (Special Area of Conservation) is an SCI officially designated by the Members States, which has a specific management plan for conservation of habitats and species.

What is the Natura 2000 Network?

It is a European protected area network, which must be coherent to provide sufficient protection to the land and marine environment.

How many habitats are protected by the Directive? How many species?

The annexes to the Directive list more than 200 habitats and almost 1,000 species. Of these, only 5 habitats and 18 species are marine.

Why should they be protected?

A stunning loss of biodiversity is taking place all over the planet, leading to the regression and disappearance of habitats and species. For this reason, the United Nations stated, decades ago, the need to work to stop the loss of biodiversity in the planet, and all countries in the world must create protected areas and manage their resources and ecosystems in a sustainable manner.

How can we know if countries have submitted enough SCIs?

The European Commission has launched a number of seminars which started in 2009 to determine the degree to which Member States comply with the Natura Network in their waters and territories. Until now, results show clear non-compliance with regard to the marine part of the network, through totally incoherent and insufficient action.

Which countries have done their homework and which ones have not?

To mention a few examples, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands have done their homework in the Atlantic region. In the Mediterranean region, France has made good progress. In the Black Sea, Romania has done outstanding work, but Bulgaria is lagging. In the Macaronesian region, only the proposals submitted by Portugal to protect the Monk Seal have been declared to be sufficient.

Click below to learn more about:

• Cetaceans
• Sea turtles and sea turtle migration
• Corals
• Deep-sea corals
• Protected marine habitats
• Posidonia
• Underwater forests