The Birds and Habitats Directives (BHD) require designation and effective management of Natura 2000 sites (special protection areas -SPAs under the Birds Directive and special areas of conservation -SACs under the Habitats Directive) as the main contribution to reaching and maintaining the favourable conservation status of protected habitats and species. Member States must establish site-specific conservation objectives for species and habitats protected in the sites, as well as establish and implement the necessary
conservation measures to reach those objectives. The site-specific conservation objectives should be based on scientific assessments that consider the ecological needs of species and habitats, their current status and threats. Clear measurable targets should be defined to guide targeted conservation actions. Despite existing guidance provided by the Commission on setting site-specific conservation objectives, they are still widely lacking in particular for marine habitats and species. This indicates the difficulty faced by Member States to formulate the objectives which adequately reflect the ecological requirements of the species, their current status and potential threats. In addition to compliance issues, this is also limiting the potential of the sites to stop and reverse the biodiversity loss and to reach the relevant EU and global targets. It is therefore essential to provide further support to Member States in setting scientifically sound site conservation objectives. This request would require the gathering of knowledge on the main ecological requirements, current status and potential threats for the marine habitats and species covered by Annex I of the Birds Directive and Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive (full list in the Annex).
It should then define the blueprint for drafting site-specific conservation objectives, taking into account the existing Commissions guidance on this matter. Such a blueprint could be provided at sea-basin level and should be done for each habitat type and species, with a possibility to provide further break-down into sub-types of habitats or to group certain species with very similar ecological requirements. Ultimately the goal is to use this knowledge to assist Member States to set the appropriate site-specific conservation objectives for their marine habitats and species which fulfill the required legal standard and facilitate the establishment and implementation of the necessary conservation measures.
Summary of the request submitted through the KCBD’s Ticketing system
