How is the EU helping to protect natural areas and biodiversity?

At the EU level, nature and biodiversity are protected by several laws. The Birds and Habitats Directives are the pillars of EU nature legislation. In addition, the EU has adopted a biodiversity strategy 2030, which is a comprehensive and ambitious, long-term plan for protecting nature and reversing the degradation of ecosystems.

Article 17 of the Habitats Directive and Article 12 of the Birds Directive call for Member States to submit national reports on the progress made in implementing the directives. Based on these data, the EEA produces the State of Nature report and publishes all related datasets in the form of databases or viewers.

Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and of certain rare natural habitat types, which are protected under both the Birds and Habitats Directives. It stretches across all 27 EU countries, both on land and at sea, and ensures the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats. The EEA collects information on Natura 2000 sites, i.e. their population sizes and conservation status, and presents it in the Natura 2000 Viewer among others. See more on the EEA’s work on Natura 2000 here and consult the related indicator.