Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992

Policy Document
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Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora.

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Landscape fragmentation pressure from urban and transport infrastructure expansion This indicator is based on the Effective Mesh Size (Jaeger 2000) method .  For some species, the effective mesh size (meff) can be interpreted as the area that is accessible when beginning to move from a randomly chosen point inside a landscape without encountering man-made barriers such as transport routes or built-up areas. However, it should be stressed that for many species that can fly, or are effective dispersers in others ways, man-made structures may not act as barriers. The combination of all barriers in a landscape is called Fragmentation Geometry (FG) hereafter. The meff value expresses the probability that any two points chosen randomly in an area are connected. Hence, meff is a measure of landscape connectivity, i.e. the degree to which movements between different parts of the landscape are possible. The larger the meff, the more connected the landscape. The indicator addresses structural connectivity of the landscape and does not tackle functional, species specific connectivity. The Effective Mesh Density (seff) is a measure of landscape fragmentation, i.e. the degree to which movement between different parts of the landscape is interrupted by Fragmentation Geometry. It gives the effective number of meshes (or landscape patches) per 1 000 km 2 , in other words, the density of the meshes. The seff value is calculated as 1 000 km 2 /meff, hence, the number of meshes per 1 000 km 2 . The more barriers fragmenting the landscape, the higher the effective mesh density. meff and seff are reported within the cells of a 1 km 2 regular grid. meff is area-proportionally additive, hence it characterises the fragmentation of any region considered, independently of its size, and thus can be calculated for a combination of two or more regions. The meff has several advantages over other metrics: It addresses the entire landscape matrix instead of addressing individual patches. It is independent of the size of the reporting unit and its values can be compared among reporting units of differing sizes. It is suitable for comparing the fragmentation of regions with differing total areas and with differing proportions occupied by housing, industry and transportation structures. It's reliability has been confirmed on the basis of suitability criteria through a systematic comparison with other quantitative measures. The suitability of other metrics was limited as they only partially met the following criteria: Intuitive interpretation; Mathematical simplicity; Modest data requirements; Low sensitivity to small patches; Detection of structural differences; Mathematical homogeneity (i.e., intensive or extensive).
Designated areas The indicator shows different trends of surface area (in km2) designated under national legislation, under EU Directives and under  international conventions and initiatives: Changes over time in cumulative surface area of sites designated nationally; Changes over time in cumulative surface area of sites designated under EC Birds and Habitats Directives; Changes over time in cumulative surface area of sites designated under international conventions and initiatives. The indicator also shows the current status of implementation of the Habitats Directive by EU-25 Member-States expressed as a: Sufficiency Index (distance to target), which provides a measure of progress in the implementation of the Habitats Directive. The indicator shows the proportion of a country designated total area that is protected under either the EC Birds and/or Habitats Directives, or by national instruments, or by both. Share of surface areas designated only under the EC Birds and Habitats Directives, protected only by national instruments, and covered by both
Threatened and protected species This indicator shows: It will show how many species present in Europe and assessed as globally threatened are protected by European instruments such as EC Directives and the Bern Convention.
Trends in marine non-indigenous species This indicator shows the cumulative number and trends in the introduction of marine non-indigenous species (NIS) recorded in the regional seas of Europe since 1949.

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