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The objective has been to increase the Spaniards’ knowledge of the Natura 2000 Network through various communication campaigns.
It has sought to increase the Spaniards’ knowledge of the Natura 2000 Network through various communication campaigns.
Fundación Biodiversidad has been a funding partner of this project, which was coordinated by SEO/BirdLife.
Thirty percent of the Spanish territory, 15 million hectares and more than 2,000 natural areas of great ecological value, are part of the Natura 2000 Network, a large European network designed to ensure the conservation of the rural environment. The Natura 2000 Network provides European citizens with vital services such as carbon storage, maintenance of water quality or protection against floods and droughts, valued at 200-300 billion euros per year, according to the European Commission.
Despite the fact that more than 80% of the Spanish population lives near one of these spaces, only 3% of us know what they are and how we can take advantage of their benefits and help in their conservation.
LIFE+ Activate your real wealth, has joined all Europeans in the knowledge and enjoyment of the great heritage we have: the Natura 2000 Network.
In general aspects, the project has complied with all the actions to be developed as planned from the beginning, including some improvements.
Line of action:
Terrestrial ecosystemsStatus:
FinalizadoExecution date:
2012End date:
2017Project web page:
http://activarednatura2000.com/The Natura 2000 Network was born in 1992, with the approval of the Habitats Directive. It is made up of two types of protection figures:
- Sites of Community Interest (SCI) are sites hosting natural habitat types or species of special value at the European Union level. These sites are designated under the Habitats Directive. SCIs become Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) once they are officially declared by the Member States of the European Union.
- Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) are sites that are home to wild bird species to be conserved within the European Union. SPAs are designated under the Birds Directive.
Both SCIs and SPAs can be terrestrial or marine areas, although the marine network is much less developed than the terrestrial one.
The protection of these sites aims to ensure the long-term survival of Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats. To this end, the Member States of the European Union must take appropriate measures to maintain the sites in a favorable state of conservation, including the approval of specific management plans. Management plans are essential to establish the measures to be implemented in each area to establish the conservation status of the natural values as well as to know the necessary funding for the implementation of these measures.
In Spain there are currently 2,041 Natura 2000 Network protected areas, 1,445 SCIs and 596 SPAs, which means that 30% of the country’s surface area is within one of these protected areas. Specifically, more than 12 million hectares are SCIs, of which 1 million are marine, while more than 10 million are SPAs, 265,000 of which are marine SPAs. Only 10% of the Natura 2000 Network sites are being managed with a specific management plan, despite the fact that all sites should have a management plan approved before 2011, according to Law 42/2007 on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity.
Despite the importance of this network, 85% of Spaniards say they know nothing about these spaces. Of the remaining 15%, only 8% acknowledged that they were “somewhat” familiar. Furthermore, of this 15%, 10.5% are not able to cite a site belonging to the Natura 2000 Network.
LIFE+ Activate your true wealth
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