EU Habitat Directive

In full this Directive reads 'Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora'. This Directive aims for the maintenance of biodiversity within the territory of the member states to which this treaty applies, which are all the member states of the European Union. This is done through the conservation of natural habitats and of wild flora and fauna. All measures taken pursuant to the EU Habitat Directive are designed to restore or maintain natural habitats and species of wild flora and fauna of EU interest. Economic, social and cultural requirements are taken into account, as well as regional and local characteristics.

For this purpose, six different appendices have been created: ·

• Annex I: natural habitat types of community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation
• Annex II: animal and plant species community interest whose conservation requires the designation of special areas of conservation
• Annex III: criteria for selecting sites eligible for identification as sites of community importance and designation of special areas of conservation
• Annex IV: animal and plant species of community interest in need of strict protection
• Annex V: animal and plant species of community interest whose taking in the wild and exploitation may be subject to management measures
• Annex VI: prohibited methods and means of capture and killing and modes of transport

A specific outcome of the Directive is the planned establishment of the European ecological network known as 'Natura 2000'. Member States of the EU are obliged to draw up a list of sites with habitat types mentioned in annex I and species mentioned in annex II that are native to its territory. Criteria for selecting sites to include in annex are found in annex III. Member States have to develop conservation measures to avoid deterioration of the mentioned sites. In circumstances of overriding public interest a site may be adversely affected, but compensation measures have to be taken. Furthermore Member States must establish a system of protection to conserve the listed species. The species which are of community interest and therefore in need of strict protection are mentioned in annex IV. Some species which may already be subject to management measures (annex V). Annex VI finally gives the prohibited methods and means of capture, killing and transport. More information and the exact text of the Directive can be found on the WebPages of the European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/nature_conservation /eu_nature_legislation/habitats_directive/index_en.htm.

The relevance of this Directive is clear in that it aims at conserving habitats for among others large herbivore species. However, the Directive is only relevant for the territory of the Member States of the European Union and therefore not relevant for all species in this report. The status of most of the species in the European Union range is generally relatively well. They are not immediately threatened with extinction.

Main strength of the Directive lies in the fact that it stimulates the reduction of habitat fragmentation, which is a problem for most large herbivores in the territory of the EU. This results in relatively weak local populations or on the contrary overpopulation (e.g. Red Deer, Roe Deer, Chamois).

Large herbivore species could be good model species to develop ecological network orientated projects. Besides the already started projects of the LHF, other projects can be developed to improve connections between fragmented habitats. Not only large herbivores benefit from this, also other animal species.