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IP/02/84
Brussels, 17 January 2002
Nature
Conservation:
Commission
approves
specially protected sites in the Canary Islands,
Azores and Madeira
The Commission has approved the first list of sites of Europe-wide
importance for conservation under the EU’s Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC).
This list covers the biogeographic region of Macaronesia – the Canary
Islands, Azores and Madeira. The sites in question provide protection for
natural habitats and rare and endangered plant and animal species, and now
formally become part of the EU’s network of specially protected sites known
as Natura 2000. The Commission will compile five further lists of such sites
covering the other five biogeographic regions into which the Community is
divided - Alpine, Continental, Mediterranean, Boreal and Atlantic – on the
basis of proposals to be submitted by Member States.
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, welcomed the decision, saying: “The
adoption of this list is a landmark in the realisation of the Natura 2000 network.
These islands possess some of the most important and diverse wildlife anywhere in
the EU. The Spanish and Portuguese authorities are to be congratulated on the
significant contribution they have made to conservation in designating more than
30% of the territories of these islands for special protection under Natura 2000.”
Commissioner Wallström added: “It is now necessary to keep up the momentum. I
therefore encourage other Member States to finalise their decisions on site
proposals as soon as possible so as to permit the Commission rapidly to adopt lists
for the other regions which merit European protected status. The completion of the
Natura 2000 network and its positive management is essential in order to implement
the commitment made by Heads of State and Government at the European Council
in Göteborg last June to halt the decline in European Biodiversity before the end of
the decade.”
I. Natura 2000
The objective of establishing an ecological network of sites to ensure the protection
of the EU’s threatened wildlife was agreed with the adoption of the “Habitats”
Directive (92/43/CEE). Member States accepted the need for concerted EU-wide
action recognising that this problem transcends national borders. The Directive
provides for a “Natura 2000” network to be made up of sites identified for the
protection of the 200 natural habitats and over 600 species of rare or endangered
plants and animals together with the special areas for protection of bird species
designated under the earlier “Wild Birds” Directive (79/409/CEE).
For the purpose of Natura 2000 the EU is divided into six biographic regions Macaronesia, Alpine, Continental, Mediterranean, Boreal and Atlantic.
These represent the major distinct areas of nature across Europe. The
establishment of the lists of sites for protection in each of these regions is a 3-stage
process.
1st stage: Each Member State has the responsibility to propose, on the basis of
scientific criteria set out in the Directive, a national list of sites for inclusion in the
network. These sites are required to ensure the favourable conservation status of the
habitats and species identified in the Directive.
2nd stage: The Commission, in consultation with the Member States, establishes an
EU list of sites of conservation importance (“SCIs”) on the basis of the proposals in
the national lists. The decision now taken for Macaronesia is the adoption of the first
of these lists. The Commission is advised in establishing these lists by a wide range
of scientific expertise from the European Environment Agency, stakeholder groups
and independent scientists.
3rd stage: Within six years of the adoption of lists of SCI’s the Member States have
to put in place the necessary measures to protect and manage the sites designated
and in so doing to designate them formally as special areas for conservation –
“SACs”.
Once special areas for conservation have been designated, Member States must
take all the necessary measures to guarantee their conservation and avoid their
deterioration. The Directive provides for the co-financing of conservation measures
by the EU. This does not mean that economic activities in the sites are excluded, but
it requires Member States to ensure that such activities are compatible with the
conservation of the habitats and species for which the sites have been designated.
Where development proposals are put forward, these are subject to detailed
assessment and, where impacts on conservation interests are identified,
developments can only be permitted if there are no viable alternative sites and where
it can be demonstrated that there is an overriding public interest. In the event that
such a development does proceed, there is a requirement to compensate for the loss
of habitat either by the creation or restoration of a replacement habitat or by
improving management of other sites to ensure that the integrity of the overall
network is retained.
II. The Macaronesian List
The list of sites of Community interest for Macaronesia has been established on the
basis of the proposals made in the national lists prepared by Spain and Portugal. It
includes a total of 208 individual sites with an area of 3, 487 square kilometres of
land and 1848 square kilometres of marine areas. This represents 34% of the total
land area of the islands.
While the original timetable in the Directive foresaw the completion of the EU lists by
1998, the process of nomination of national lists by Member States has been subject
to considerable delays and this list for Macaronesia is the first to be adopted.
Although this is the smallest of the Biographic regions, it is nevertheless a region of
great importance since these volcanic islands are the home of a unique range of
wildlife due to the fact that they have never been in direct contact with mainland
Europe. They possess very diverse flora and fauna including a high percentage of
species that are endemic to these islands (they are found nowhere else in the world).
For example, the percentage (ca.32%) of endemic plants per unit of surface is the
highest in Europe, only equalled by Galapagos and surpassed by the Philippines and
New Caledonia. The endemic animals include such remarkable species as the Giant
Lizard of Hierro, probably the rarest reptile in Europe and one of most endangered
species in the world.
The contribution of these islands to nature conservation in Europe is demonstrated
by the fact that, with only 3% of the EU’s surface area, they support a greater
number of the important species identified for protection in the Directive than the
Atlantic Region which occupies 24% of the EU.
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The subtropical climate of these islands and their geography creates three main
types of habitat – coastal cliffs and dunes, open mountain areas and forests
including rainforest such as humid evergreen laurel forest. Certain habitat types, like
so many of the species they support, are often found only on these islands.
The text of the Commission decision and the annexed list of sites in the Macaronesia
region is available at the following address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/environment/whatsnew.htm.
Maps showing the distribution of the sites on each island in the region are also
available at the same address. Information on each of the individual sites listing the
species and habitats for which each site has been designated and a map of its
extent will be available at the same address shortly. For further information on this
point contact Nicholas Hanley Directorate-General for Environment: 02 2968703.
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