European Union directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora
The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora)[1] is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The European Community was reformed as the European Union the following year, but the directive is still recognised.
The Habitats Directive required national governments to specify areas that are expected to be ensuring the conservation of flora and fauna species. This led to the setting up of a network of protected areas across the EU, along with 'Special Areas of Conservation', which together with the existing Special Protection Areas, became the so-called Natura 2000 network established to protect species and habitats.[2]
This directive is one of the main pillars of the European Union's system of wildlife and nature conservation, another being the Birds Directive.[3][4] The Habitats Directive, together with the Birds Directive, are also called the "nature directives".[5]
The Habitats Directive consists of 24 articles of legislation to which all member states must comply. Article 17 of the directive sets the terms and standards for reporting on both the habitats and species listed in the annexes by the individual EU member countries. It stipulates a report from each member country on the state of nature every six years.[1][6] The first preliminary reports were due in 2001 (but only published in 2004),[6] the first actual assessments were due in 2007 (published 2009),[6][7] the second in 2013 (published 2015), and the third set of assessment reports were due in 2019 (published 2020).[6] The assessments of conservation status differ markedly from those of the IUCN Red List. The aim in the case of the EU conservation status is to assess the distance from a defined favourable situation, as opposed to the distance from extinction. There are three classes of conservation status: favourable (FV), unfavourable-inadequate (U1) and unfavourable-bad (U2).[8]
The annexes of the directive outline the protected habitats and species:[1]
Annex I covers habitats,
Annex II species requiring designation of Special Areas of Conservation,
Annex IV species in need of strict protection, and
Annex V species in which member countries may decide for themselves how to manage the population.
^ abc"Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora". Eur-Lex. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^"Natura 2000 - Environment". ec.europa.eu. European Commission. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^"The Habitats Directive". Europa. European Commission. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
^"Joint Nature Conservation Committee – European Legislation". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
^"Nature directives".
^ abcd"Habitats Directive reporting". Europa. European Commission. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
^"Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora". Eur-Lex. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
^Douglas Evans; Marita Arvela (July 2011). Assessment and reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive Explanatory Notes & Guidelines for the period 2007-2012 (PDF) (Report). European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity. p. 8, 9. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
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