All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.
See all EU institutions and bodiesDo something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it!
Indicator Fact Sheet
Assessment made on 01 Jan 2002
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity considers fragmentation to be a major threat to habitats and species populations. This is reflected in the pan-European biological and landscape diversity strategy as well as in the European Community biodiversity strategy (European Commission, 1998) and the EC habitats directive. The average size of contiguous land units in ACs not cut through by major transport infrastructure is 175 km2, which is about 40 % higher than the EU average. This can be partly explained by the lower density of road and rail networks in the ACs. The historical difference in land ownership has also played a role, with larger, previously state-owned patches in the ACs against smaller, privately owned parcels in the EU. With infrastructure development in the ACs focusing on road development, there is a risk that fragmentation of their territory will increase. Already, fragmentation by transport infrastructure in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia is more severe than the EU average.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/fragmentation-of-land-and-forests or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 28 Mar 2024, 10:26 PM
Engineered by: EEA Web Team
Software updated on 26 September 2023 08:13 from version 23.8.18
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 23.9.14
Document Actions
Share with others