The Natura 2000 Network :
Saving Europe's biodiversity
In 2001, the European Union (EU) set itself the ambitious target of halting the loss of biodiversity in Europe by 2010. Two strong pieces of European legislation are the cornerstones of the EU’s policy response to this commitment - the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. Together, they represent the most ambitious initiative ever undertaken to conserve valuable habitats and species across all EU member states (currently 27 countries). Thanks to these two Directives, countries are able to coordinate their conservation efforts, irrespective of political or administrative borders.
At the heart of the two Directives is the creation of a Europe-wide ecological network of nature conservation sites – the Natura 2000 Network. This network is designed to conserve over a thousand rare, threatened and endemic species of wild animals and plants and some 230 natural and semi-natural habitats listed in the annexes of the two EU Directives.
Around 25,000 sites have been included in the Natura 2000 Network so far making this the largest network of nature conservation areas anywhere in the world
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