scholarly journals Natura 2000 Areas and Sites of National Interest (SNI): Measuring (un)Integration between Naturalness Preservation and Environmental Remediation Policies

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Scorza ◽  
Angela Pilogallo ◽  
Lucia Saganeiti ◽  
Beniamino Murgante
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Complex Monitoring

The Natura 2000 network was established as a tool to preserve the biological diversity of the European territory with particular regard to vulnerable habitats and species. According to recent studies, a relevant percentage of Natura 2000 sites are expected to be lost by the end of this century and there is widespread evidence that biodiversity conservation policies are not fully effective in relation to the management plans of the protected areas. This paper addresses the issue by analyzing a specific case in which there is a problem of integration between different competences and sectoral policies that leads to the lack of a monitoring system of territorial management performances. The study area, located in the Basilicata Region (Southern Italy), includes a Site of National Interest (SNI), for which several reclamation projects are still in the submission/approval phase, and a partially overlapping Natura 2000 network site. The tool used to monitor biodiversity in the study area is the degradation map obtained through the “habitat quality and degradation” InVEST tool which is used to assess the current trend and thus define a baseline for comparison with two medium and long-term scenarios applicable to the SNI’s procedure of partial and total remediation. The proposed methodology is intended to be a part of a larger and more complex monitoring system that, developed within the framework of ecosystem services, allows for the overcoming of the limits related to fragmentation and contradictions that are present in land management by offering a valuable support to decision makers and the competent authorities in biodiversity conservation policy design.

scholarly journals Evaluating European Conservation Areas and Proposal of New Zones of Conservation under the Habitats Directive. Application to Spanish Territories

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 398
Author(s):  
Víctor Rincón ◽  
Javier Velázquez ◽  
Javier Gutiérrez ◽  
Beatriz Sánchez ◽  
Ana Hernando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Multicriteria Analysis ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Geostatistical Methods ◽  
Castilla Y Leon

The European Union (EU) ensures the conservation of biodiversity through the Natura 2000 Network, which establishes the classification and selection of protected areas at European level. Unfortunately, member countries cannot make the best zoning decisions for biodiversity conservation because there are no clear and uniform parameters to designate Natura 2000 sites. Due to this, it is convenient to evaluate the importance of the criteria for biodiversity conservation through a general assessment, which could establish relevant criteria that can be analysed through geostatistical methods combined in multicriteria analysis. This paper aims to consider biodiversity importance values taking into account land use, so that it is possible to develop a zoning proposal which verifies or corrects the suitability of the designated areas for the Natura 2000 Network in Castilla y León, Andalucía and Madrid (Spain). The choice of these regions allows us to compare areas with a high variability of population density, making possible to compare the potential protected areas with respect to the population living in each area. This assessment has been performed using basic and easily adaptable criteria of biodiversity conservation, so it could be applied in other European territories. In this way, clear and uniform parameters for zoning will be used, being possible to detect the best protected areas. One of the most important purposes of the Natura 2000 Network is to increase connectivity between territories; our work proposes new areas that could be linked to currently protected territories, to favour the achievement of this purpose of the Natura 2000 Network.

scholarly journals Contribution of social science to large scale biodiversity conservation: A review of research about the Natura 2000 network

2016 ◽  
Vol 199 ◽  
pp. 110-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Blicharska ◽  
Ewa H. Orlikowska ◽  
Jean-Michel Roberge ◽  
Malgorzata Grodzinska-Jurczak
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network

Contribution of the Natura 2000 Network to Biodiversity Conservation in Italy

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1433-1444 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUIGI MAIORANO ◽  
ALESSANDRA FALCUCCI ◽  
EDWARD O. GARTON ◽  
LUIGI BOITANI
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Natura 2000 Network

scholarly journals Pyrenean meadows in Natura 2000 network: grass production and plant biodiversity conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramón Reiné ◽  
Olivia Barrantes ◽  
Cristina Chocarro ◽  
Alejandro Juárez ◽  
Alfonso Broca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Grass Production

scholarly journals The aquatic and wetland vegetation of Lake Doberdò: an analysis for conservation value assessment of a disappearing lake of the Classical Karst (North East Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-106
Author(s):  
Miris Castello ◽  
Livio Poldini ◽  
Alfredo Altobelli
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Value Assessment ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Underground Waters ◽  
North East ◽  
Phytosociological Relevés

Lake Doberdò (Classical Karst) is a well-known example of karst lakes, temporary lakes that seasonally fill and empty through springs and swallow holes connected to the underground waters. It is an area of exceptional interest for geological-geomorphological and biodiversity conservation, and is part of the Natura 2000 network. Its peculiar hydro-ecological nature allows an impressive variety of species and habitats. A phytosociological survey was carried out to provide a comprehensive analysis of the vegetation. On the basis of 177 phytosociological relevés and multivariate analysis 43 communities were found, belonging to Platyhypnidio-Fontinalietea antipyreticae, Lemnetea minoris, Potametea pectinati, Bidentetea tripartitae, Isoëto-Nanojuncetea, Phragmito-Magnocaricetea, Agrostietea stoloniferae, Molinio-Arrhenatheretea, Filipendulo ulmariae-Convolvuletea sepium, Alnetea glutinosae, Rhamno catharticae-Prunetea spinosae, Alno glutinosae-Populetea albae. The Leucojo aestivi-Poetum pratensis association including waterside periodically flooded meadows is validated. Compared to the past, various communities show a change in their distribution while some valuable coenoses were not found. 21 communities are attributed to 8 Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive. The study confirms the high value of Lake Doberdò for biodiversity conservation but highlights an ongoing process of environmental change due to both natural and human-related causes including modifications of the hydrological regime and abandonment of traditional agricultural practices. An overview of the features of Lake Doberdò is provided to compare this disappearing lake with the karst groundwater-dependent wetlands found in Ireland called “turloughs”, corresponding to Annex I Habitat 3180*. Also on the basis of the current interpretation and distribution of this habitat type at the EU level, a proposal is presented to recognize and protect this outstanding area of the Natura 2000 network in Italy as the habitat 3180*, modelled on Irish turloughs.

scholarly journals Twenty-Three Years of Land-Use Changes Induced Considerable Threats to the Main Wetlands of Sardinia and Sicily (Italy) along the Mediterranean Bird Flyways

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Alessandro Ferrarini ◽  
Marco Gustin ◽  
Claudio Celada
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Natura 2000 Network ◽  
Stopover Sites ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Agricultural Areas

Biodiversity loss has multiple causes, but habitat degradation through land-use change is the predominant driver. We investigated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in preserving the main wetlands of the two largest islands of the Mediterranean region, whose conservation is critical for many avian species at European and global level, in a 23-year period (1990–2012). In Sardinia, the surroundings of 22 wetlands were affected by an increase in artificial areas (+64 ha/year) and decrease in agricultural (−54 ha/year) and natural (−17 ha/year) ones. In Sicily, the surroundings of 16 wetlands were impacted by an increase in agricultural areas (+50 ha/year) and decrease in natural and semi-natural ones (−62 ha/year). Results show that the Natura 2000 policies were effective in preserving wetlands (no shrinkages detected in both regions), but their surroundings experienced intense processes of degradation and artificialization in all the sub-periods considered (1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012), whose effects are now threatening waterbirds and wetland integrity. The enlargement of the existing Natura 2000 sites, the creation of new ones and the speedup of the application of the rules of the Habitats and Birds Directives seem necessary to counteract the rapid land-use changes around these important stopover sites.

scholarly journals Toward a More Expansive Discourse in a Changing World: An Analysis of Political Leaders’ Speeches on Biodiversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2899
Author(s):  
Sang Hun Lee ◽  
Yi Hyun Kang ◽  
Rong Dai
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Subject ◽  
High Level

Speeches delivered in the Conference of the Parties (COPs) to the Convention on Biological Diversity represent leading discourses about biodiversity conservation. The discourse shared by high-level politicians is especially influential in the financing and decision-making process of global biodiversity governance. However, the speeches given in the COPs have not been the subject of systematic analyses until now. This study analyzes the host countries’ speeches given at the six most recent COPs and investigates which discourses have been expressed in the speeches. The regulatory discourse that views nature as a resource was found to be the dominant discourse, while other discourses that view nature as a scientific object or a spiritual entity were represented only marginally. As the need for a transformational policy for biodiversity conservation is growing amid a global pandemic, it is essential to deepen our understanding of the dynamics and complexity of nature and reflect it in the policy process. This study suggests that more balanced discourse on biodiversity may earn broader audiences’ consensus on biodiversity conservation.

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