natura 2000: introducing a discussion on identification...

Natura 2000:

Introducing a discussion on

identification and selection of sites

Alberto Arroyo SchnellWWF International12th October 2005 ©WWF-Canon / Krista SORMUNEN

Previous hypothesis

Bosnia Hercegovina is an EU candidate / accession country

Therefore:

• Legislation has to be transposed

• If needed, annexes of both Directives are being adapted

• National lists are under preparation

Alberto Arroyo SchnellApril 2007

Experience fromlatest enlargement processes

• No transition periods for nature legislation

• Prepare national lists to be ready by accession

• Art.6.2/3/4 applies by accession

• Adaptation of the annexes of both directives


Establisment of the Natura 2000 network


Legal obligationsfrom the designation

XXXXSACXXXSCI

X?X?X?cSCI?pSCI

XXXSPA6.46.36.26.1


Natura 2000 designation

• Two different processes;– different

selection criteria;– different

objectives;– overlapping

designation; • Legal impacts;• It does matter for

conservation what is the form of designation

SPA

SCI/SAC


SPA – A Place for Birds

©Birdlife International

Site designation: SPAs


The Birds Directive and the IBA Programme

• The IBA programme has originally aimed at identifying potential SPAsin the EU;

• Today it is the global tool for priority setting for site-based bird conservation.

• The IBA inventories widely used by the CEC to challenge Member States for insufficient desig-nation of SPAs (11 of 15)

‘A’Global

‘B’Europe

‘C’European Union

Threatened spp. A1: Globallythreatened

B2: One of ‘n’ mostimportant for aSPEC1-3 sp.

C1: Globally threatened[= A1]

Restricted-range spp. A2: Endemic spp.

Assemlages ofbiome-restricted spp.

A3: Biome restrictedspp.

Congregations A4i: ≥ 1% of biogeogr.pop. of a waterbirdsp.;

A4ii: ≥ 1% of global pop.of seabird or othersp.;

A4iii: ≥ 20,000 waterbirdsor ≥ 10,000 pairs ofseabird;

A4iv: ≥ 20,000 storks,raptors or cranes

B1i: ≥ 1% of flywaypop. of a waterbirdsp.;

B1ii: ≥ 1% of a distinctpop. of seabirdsp.;

B1iii: ≥ 1% of a flyway orother distinct pop.of other congr.sp.;

B1iv: ≥ 5,000 storks or≥3,000 raptors orcranes

C2: 1% of flyway or EUpop. of an Annex Isp. [≈B1];

C3: 1% of flyway or EUpop. of a non-Annex I migratorysp. [=B1];

C4: ≥ 20,000 waterbirdsor ≥ 10,000 pairs ofseabird [=A4iii];

C5: ≥ 5,000 storks or≥3,000 raptors orcranes [=B1iv];

C6: top 5 site for anAnnex I sp. in theNUTS reg.

Others B3: One of ‘n’ mostimportant forSPEC4 sp.

C7: SPAs selected basedon other ornith.criteria [n/a]

SAC – A Place forHabitats & Species

©Alberto Arroyo


Site designation: pSCIs


The Biogeographical Regions


SCIs designation follows

• 4 phases

– Proposal of Member states (1 list per region)

– Evaluation in biogeographic seminars (1- 3 loops)

– Improvement of National Lists

– Bilateral negotiations (member states and EC)


SCIs designation basics

• Based on scientific background (annexes)

• Includes discussion with stakeholders in a transparent procedure: the Biogeographicseminars

©WWF-Canon / Edward PARKERAlberto Arroyo SchnellApril 2007

SCIs designation criteria• Annex III-A of the Directive establishes some general criteria:

• Habitats:– Representativity– % area respect to the total national area– conservation status– global assessment

• Species:– Size and density of the population (respect to national population)– conservation status– isolation of the population– global assessment

• Priority habitats and species

• Some guidelines from the EC help for this purpose


What needs to be protected?National reference list:

• Which habitats and species from the Annexes of the HD are present in your country? (anything relevant at the EU level missing?)

• Is the Habitats interpretation manual adapted to your country (very technical phytosociological information)?

• The Habitats interpretation manual allows to very broad interpretation: it could be enough to ensure national subtypes are included


Site designation: do we know what needs to be protected in

Bosnia Hercegovina?

Identification of sites:some ideas

Use of inventories• e.g. ES: 1:50.000 habitats inventory (based on

phitosociology)• e.g. HR: Habitat mapping on the whole territory of Croatia

(9ha units, remote sensing + field work)

Use of existing information (scientific evidence, knownlocations, expert opinions)

• e.g. all over: use of known locations (non published expert cites) for the site designation process, use of scientific articles…

Focusing on known spots• e.g. BG: inventory of known best areas (40% of their

territory)


Data collectionACTIONS

- contact experts

- collectinformation

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS• sometimes narrow field of expertise

=> many experts to be contacted• different regions => even more experts• specialists often not reluctant to give

their data => write motivating letterwith engagement of correct use ofdata

• differences in data quality• which parts of the total distribution

area are essential?• data not always recent (< 10 years ?)

Data collectionACTIONS

- Put togetherinformation

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS• absence of estimations of total

area/habitat• lack of precision of data• difficulty to estimate the % covered by

a habitat type • interpretation of the ‘interpretation

manual’ (e.g. for degraded habitats)

Identification of sites:which information can we use in

your country (see annexes)? Which is the situation (availability,

gaps)

Selection of sites

• GIS: basic tool!

• EC requirement: minimum scale of 1:100.000

• Based on the scientific information; borders can be broader (different approaches)

• Stakeholder involvement (not always carried out, as the site designation is a scientific process)


MappingACTIONS - Digitalizing

information

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS• availability of precise location• different grid systems: UTM,

Lambert,…=> PC-conversion programme=> transparent grid lines on top opmap

• absence of GIS-system=> road map + transparents (samescale)

Selection of sites: how can the task be done in Bosnia

Hercegovina? (GIS)

The standard data forms• Available on Internet

• Based on the scientific information from the sites

• Digital form to be filled in, including– habitats and species present– % of habitats and species on the site, respect to national

surface of them– conservation status of the habitats and species– other information


Filling in of the Standard Data Forms: how in Bosnia

Hercegovina?

Further information

• EC websitehttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/home.htm

• ETC (technical Agency of the EC):http://biodiversity.eionet.europa.eu/activities/Natura_2000/documentation


natura 2000: introducing a discussion on identification...

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