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compensation measures are taken
to ensure that the overall integrity
of the Natura 2000 Network is
maintained.
There is an additional safeguard
for plans or projects that are likely
to affect a site hosting priority
habitats or species – i.e. those
that are especially endangered
or vulnerable. In these cases, the
project can only go ahead if it is
necessary for human health or
public safety reasons, or if the
Member States concerned presents
the Commission with compelling
arguments regarding its overriding
public interest.
This must then also be accompanied
by an adequate compensation
scheme that makes up for the
damage or loss caused to the EU
habitats and species affected.
Decisions relating to steps 1 to 3 are
made by the national authorities in
the Member State concerned. The
Commission only interferes in these
decisions if there is an official complaint
against the decision taken by the
Member State or if the development
proposal is likely to affect priority
species or habitat types.
It must however be informed of any
compensation measures proposed for
any plans or projects that are approved
under step three so that it can check
that the coherence of the Natura 2000
Network is not affected.
Commission guidance
To facilitate the
understanding of these
provisions, the Commission
has produced a guidance
document which
provides non-mandatory
methodological help to
carry out or review the
assessments required
under Article 6(3) and (4)
of the Habitats Directive.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
nature/natura2000/management/
guidance_en.htm
Expansion of the port of Le Havre
The Seine Estuary in France is a major Natura 2000 site covering some 188km². On its doorstep is the port of Le Havre. It is the busiest container
port in France and a major hub for world trade. To deal with the ever growing volume of shipping, the first phase of a huge port expansion has
just been completed. But before the project could go ahead it had first to undergo an appropriate assessment under Article 6 of the Habitats
Directive. It was clear that such a huge port expansion was going to have a dramatic impact on the environment but the Article 6 assessment also
recognised that the project was ‘of overriding public interest’.
In order to minimise the ecological damage of the expansion project and identify a suitable compensation package that was acceptable to all,
the port authorities decided early on to sit down with all local stakeholder groups so that, step by step, they could work out what was important
in the estuary. In a period of just four months the port organised more than forty public meetings and an effective working relationship
developed with environmentalists. The final result was a €46 million package (still less than 1% of the total cost of the development project) of
environmental measures to be put in place before the port expansion work began.
This included:
• The construction of a small island as a new resting place for seabirds in the south of
the estuary.
• The creation of a second bird resting area in the sand dunes on the shore to replace a zone
being taken over by the new port.
• Restoration of the mudflats in the Seine estuary upstream from the port involving a complex
engineering plan that altered river levels and currents to keep water flowing onto the mud.
The Le Havre port expansion project demonstrates that economic development can go hand
in hand with Natura 2000 provided that the provisions of Article 6 are fully respected and that
dialogue is established very early on with all interest groups so that they can become involved in
the decision making process and in finding appropriate solutions or alternatives.
Natura 2000: conservation in partnership
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