Conservation status of habitats under the EU Habitats Directive

Justification for indicator selection

This indicator covers habitats that are considered to be of European interest, as listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive, one of the main legislative pillars of EU nature conservation policy. The indicator directly indicates the implementation and success of the Habitats Directive.

Article 17 reporting is also relevant for measuring progress across several targets of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. It is crucial for measuring progress towards Target 1 and contributes significantly to measuring progress towards Target 3.

Scientific references

• No rationale references available.

Context description

The new EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 contains specific commitments and actions to be delivered by 2030. One of its main instruments is an EU Nature Restoration Plan, with several aims, including strengthening the EU legal framework for nature restoration and requesting Member States to ensure no deterioration in the conservation trends and status of all protected habitats and species by 2030.

The 233 protected habitats, as well as over 1 000 species, are targeted by designating Sites of Community Importance, which are a part of the Natura 2000 network. For more information about the Natura 2000 network, see SEBI 008 indicator: Natura 2000 sites designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives.

Targets

EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030:
Key commitments of the EU Nature Restoration Plan by 2030:
1. Legally binding EU nature restoration targets to be proposed in 2021, subject to an impact assessment. By 2030, significant areas of degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems are restored; habitats and species show no deterioration in conservation trends and status; and at least 30 % reach favourable conservation status or at least show a positive trend.
2. The decline in pollinators is reversed.
3. The risk and use of chemical pesticides is reduced by 50 % and the use of more hazardous pesticides is reduced by 50 %.
4. At least 10 % of agricultural area is under high-diversity landscape features.
5. At least 25 % of agricultural land is under organic farming management, and the uptake of agro-ecological practices is significantly increased.
6. Three billion new trees are planted in the EU, in full respect of ecological principles.
7. Significant progress has been made in the remediation of contaminated soil sites.
8. At least 25,000 km of free-flowing rivers are restored.
9. There is a 50 % reduction in the number of Red List species threatened by invasive alien species.
10. The losses of nutrients from fertilisers are reduced by 50 %, resulting in the reduction of the use of fertilisers by at least 20 %.
11. Cities with at least 20,000 inhabitants have an ambitious Urban Greening Plan.
12. No chemical pesticides are used in sensitive areas such as EU urban green areas.
13. The negative impacts on sensitive species and habitats, including on the seabed through fishing and extraction activities, are substantially reduced to achieve good environmental status.
14. The by-catch of species is eliminated or reduced to a level that allows species recovery and conservation.

Related policy documents

• EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. In the Communication: Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 (COM(2011)244) the European Commission has adopted a new strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020. There are six main targets, and 20 actions to help Europe reach its goal. The six targets cover: full implementation of EU nature legislation to protect biodiversity; better protection for ecosystems, and more use of green infrastructure; more sustainable agriculture and forestry; better management of fish stocks; tighter controls on invasive alien species; a bigger EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss
• EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The European Commission has adopted the new  EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and an associated Action Plan (annex)  - a comprehensive, ambitious, long-term plan for protecting nature and reversing the degradation of ecosystems. It aims to put Europe's biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 with benefits for people, the climate and the planet. It aims to build our societies’ resilience to future threats such as climate change impacts, forest fires, food insecurity or disease outbreaks, including by protecting wildlife and fighting illegal wildlife trade. A core part of the  European Green Deal, the Biodiversity Strategy will also support a green recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.