Europes ecological backbone.pdf

Protected areas
Figure 9.9 Distribution of the 'semi-natural
dry grasslands and scrubland
facies' (62) Annex I Habitat
across the massifs
5 %
1 %
14 %
7 %
14 %
5 % 2 %
1 %
7 %
16 %
4 %
2 %
Alps
Apennines
Balkands/South-east Europe
British Isles
Carpathians
Central European middle mountains 1 *
Central European middle mountains 2 **
Eastern Mediterranean islands
French/Swiss middle mountains
Iberian mountains
Nordic mountains
Pyrenees
Western Mediterranean islands
22 %
outside 51.4 %); or the British Isles (inside 3.1 %,
outside 13.6 %) where a large proportion of the
forests were planted in the 20th century.
An analysis of changes in land cover between
1990 and 2000 was done for two countries that
were covered in both CLC1990 and CLC2000:
the Czech Republic and Germany (Figures 9.10
and 9.11). As noted in Section 7.3.1, the changes in
the Czech Republic from 1990 to 2000 were greater
than in any other EU Member State and were
particularly in the category of 'agricultural internal
land conversion'. The changes inside and outside
Natura 2000 areas showed similar directions, with
the largest changes in agricultural land, i.e. a 4 %
decrease in arable land and permanent crops
(class 2A) and a 4 % increase in pastures and
mosaic farmland (class 2B). Overall, changes in
Germany were much smaller. However, degrees
of change were markedly different inside and
outside Natura 2000 sites for artificial surfaces
(class 1), which decreased in Natura 2000 sites,
but increased outside them; and for pastures and
mosaic farmland (class 2B), where the rate of
increase in Natura 2000 sites was more than twice
that outside them. A general conclusion is that
the changes observed in 10 years are quite small,
and that analysis over a longer time period — as
represented, for instance for Slovakia's biosphere
reserves in Box 9.3 — and in more detail (for
example, Mücher et al., 2006) is needed to assess
trends and evaluate the effect of policies.
Note:
* = Belgium and Germany;
** = the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.
9.1.5 Overlaps between Natura 2000 and High
Nature Value farmland
though in the latter the proportion outside Natura
2000 sites is quite high (18.6 % in 2000).
As might be expected from the findings on land
cover (Section 7.2) and habitat types (Section 9.1.3),
class 3A1 (standing forests) was the dominant
land‐cover group in mountains, covering 44.9 %
of the total area of Natura 2000 sites in mountains
and 37.5 % outside these sites. The highest
proportions are in the Natura 2000 sites of central
and south‐eastern Europe, with values over 50 %
also in sites in the French/Swiss middle mountains
and the Apennines. However, this group is poorly
represented in the British Isles (3.1 % in Natura 2000
sites in 2000), which also has the lowest proportion
outside these sites after the massifs of the eastern
Mediterranean islands. While the proportion of this
land‐cover group is generally higher within Natura
2000 sites than outside them, this was not true for
the Nordic mountains (inside 34.5 %, outside 43.7 %)
which are largely forested; the Alps (inside 41.1 %,
As noted in Section 7.4.2, High Nature Value (HNV)
farmland covers 17 % of the area of the mountains
of the EU‐27 as a whole, and 33 % if the mountains
of Finland and Sweden, where there is very little
arable or pasture land, are excluded. It should also
be noted that the presence of Natura 2000 sites is
one of the criteria for designating HNV farmland.
Nevertheless, considering that different policies
often apply to these two designations, one deriving
from EU legislation (Natura 2000 sites) and the
other relating to modes of agricultural production
through the Rural Development Programme (HNV
farmland) , a comparison of the areas covered by
the two designations may be useful to inform policy
development and implementation (EEA, 2004). The
assessment of overlaps between Natura 2000 sites
and HNV farmlands per massif is summarised in
Table 9.5. As HNV data refer only to EU Member
States, only the areas covered by these data were
considered when calculating the percentages shown.
Europe's ecological backbone: recognising the true value of our mountains
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