NATURA 2000 network

European Ecological Network NATURA 2000

The European ecological network Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas spanning the entire Community, which aims to ensure the long-term conservation of its most valuable and most threatened species and habitats at a satisfactory level.

Update of the national list of the Natura 2000 ecological network The update of the national list of the European ecological network Natura 2000 was a product of the project "Supervision and evaluation of the conservation status of species and types of habitats of community interest in Greece", which was co-financed by the ERDF, within the framework of the OP EPPERAA (ERDF 2007-2013) and was implemented by the Department of Biodiversity and Protected Areas of the Ministry of the Interior during 2014-2015.

The project covered obligations arising from Directives 92/43/EEC and 2009/147/EC. In the context of the project:

a single database of bibliographic references and field data on the distribution and conservation status of species and habitat types of Community interest at country level was produced; the conservation status of the species and types of habitats of community interest at national level was assessed, the 3rd National Reference Report was compiled with field monitoring data, Desired Reference Values and Conservation Objectives for species and habitats were established, a system for monitoring the conservation status of species for the future was organized; the descriptive database of the Natura Network (SDFs) was updated and the inclusion of new areas in the Network was proposed. The inclusion of the new areas and the updating of the national list was institutionalized by the Official Gazette 50743 (Government Gazette B' 4432/2017) "Revision of the national list of areas of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000".

Mapping of Natura areas The identified need to improve the mapping of the Natura 2001 areas was met by the implementation of the project "Development of a large-scale (1:5000) spatial data infrastructure for the terrestrial protected areas of the Natura 2000 network". The project had as its object the more precise determination of the external limits of the terrestrial TKS and ZEP and the updating, description and delimitation of the terrestrial habitat types in 241 TKS of the "NATURA 2000" network, at a scale of 1:5,000.

The final result of the habitat mapping excludes the new TKS and the extensions of existing ones, as these were added to the network with KYA 50743 after the end of the above project.

The project was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Operational Program "Digital Convergence NSRF 2007-2013" and was implemented by E.K.X.A. S.A. the period 2014-2015.

The Natura 2000 Network is a European Ecological Network of areas that host natural habitat types and species habitats that are important at European level. It consists of two categories of areas:

the "Special Protection Areas (ZEP)" (Special Protection Areas - SPA) for Poultry, as defined in Directive 79/409/EC "for the conservation of wild birds" the "Sites of Community Importance (SCI)" (Sites of Community Importance - SCI) as defined in Directive 92/43/EEC. The habitat types and species of Annexes I and II of Directive 92/43/EEC as well as the criteria of Annex III thereof are taken into account for the determination of the TKS.  

The SPAs, after their designation by the Member States, are automatically included in the Natura 2000 Network, and their management follows the provisions of article 6 par. 2, 3, 4 of Directive 92/43/EC and the provisions of article 4 of Directive 79/409/EEC. On the contrary, for the inclusion of the TKS, a scientific evaluation and negotiation is carried out between the Member States and the European Commission, according to the results of the Biogeographical Seminars by ecological unit. TKS are subject to the provisions of article 6 par. 2, 3, 4 of Directive 92/43/EEC.

After the finalization of the list of TKS, the Member States are obliged to declare these areas as "Special Areas of Conservation (EZD)" (Special Areas of Conservation - SAC)" within six years at the latest and to determine the priorities for conservation in satisfactory status of habitat types and species of community interest within them. EZDs are subject to the provisions of article 6 par. 1, 2, 3, 4 of Directive 92/43/EEC.

The implementation of the Network in Greece
The recording of the places that meet the criteria of the presence of types of habitats and habitats of species of Directive 92/43/EC in our country (296 areas – "Scientific List"), was made by a group of about 100 scientists that was specially set up for this purpose in the framework of the European LIFE program (1994-1996) entitled "Recording, Identification, Assessment and Mapping of Habitat Types and Flora and Fauna Species of Greece (Directive 92/43/EEC)". The "Scientific List" included almost all of the protected areas at the national and international level.

The selection of the places proposed by the country to the European Commission was made by a joint working group of the former Ministries of PECHODE and Agriculture following the opinions of all the co-competent Ministries. The additions and amendments to the list were based on the conclusions of the biogeographical seminars for the Mediterranean zone and on the designation by BirdLife International of Important Bird Areas in Greece.

Greece has today designated 202 Special Protection Zones (ZEP) and 241 Sites of Community Importance (SCI). The two lists of areas overlap in terms of their areas.

The list of Greek Special Protection Zones was published in Official Gazette 1495/Β/06.09.2010 as an appendix to the new integration of Directive 79/4009/EEC (which was codified with Directive 2009/147/EC).

239 Greek Places of Community Importance were designated as Special Conservation Zones by N3937/2011 (ΦΕΚ60/Α/31-3-2011).

All sites of the Natura 2000 Network, included in the database, are accompanied by a data sheet with general descriptive data and more specific information on the types of habitats and species that inhabit each site and by a map at a scale of 1:100,000.

All the above maps have been sent to the Departments of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Regions of the country, to the Departments of Environment of the Prefectural Self-Governments, to the competent Services of the Central Ministries, to the library of YPEKA and are distributed to all interested citizens. Due to the amount of information, the 1:100,000 maps of the listed areas are not currently attached to the Internet, but indicative summary maps of the location of the areas on the national territory at a scale of 1:2,800,000 are listed.