The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, inaugurated today in Madrid the Conference “Natura 2000: Nature needs agriculture”, in which representatives of Public Administrations, social organizations and experts will analyze the situation and implementation of this network, representative of European natural areas.

The Natura 2000 Network includes the most representative ecosystems and natural habitats in Europe and is made up of the Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs), designated by the EU States in application of the Birds Directive, and the Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), established in accordance with the Habitats Directive and designated by the Member States on the basis of proposals for Sites of Community Importance (SCIs). Both are areas of high ecological value, dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity.

One of the innovative elements of the Habitat Directive itself is the importance of maintaining natural corridors that ensure adequate biological exchange between the different natural areas, so that it is an important consideration for the Member States in the framework of the planning of national spatial planning policies. The inclusion of these ecological corridors is essential for the conservation of certain threatened species, such as the brown bear, the Iberian lynx, the wolf or the otter, which require large territories for their survival.