The European inventory of nationally designated protected areas holds information about designated areas and their designation types, which directly or indirectly create protected areas. This is version 18 and covers data reported until March 2020.

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The maps shows the time series of yearly vegetation productivity anomalies under drought impact aggregated by NUTS3 regions. Negative anomalies indicate vegetation productivity conditions which are lower than the long term average normal condition.

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Vegetation productivity loss due to drought impacts and the extent of impacted areas are presented. Vegetation productivity loss is indicated by standardized anomalies of yearly vegetation productivity during 2000-2016, and are analyzed in areas with statistically significant drought pressure, measured as precipitation shortages and low soil moisture content. Anomalies are disaggregated and detailed by year, by country and major land cover categories. Negative anomalies indicate vegetation productivity conditions which are lower than the long term average normal condition. The extent of the impacted area is measured in km2.

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Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Natura 2000 is based on the 1979 Birds Directive and the 1992 Habitats Directive. This version covers the reporting in 2019.

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The total ecological footprint of the EU-27 Member States plus the United Kingdom is high and is now more than twice the biocapacity available in the region (i.e. the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to act as sinks of carbon emissions). The picture is similar for the EEA-39 countries. The region’s high ecological footprint means that its total demand for ecological goods and services exceeds that which Europe’s ecosystems can supply. This results in a large ecological deficit, which has negative consequences for the environment within and outside Europe.

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The areas of the coloured bars show the total ecological footprint of each region in 2016. They are the product of the per person ecological footprint and the population of each region. The biocapacity of each region is represented by the area within the red lines; the height shows the per capita biocapacity.

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Vegetation productivity indicates the spatial distribution and change of the vegetation cover - a key characteristic of ecosystem condition.  Vegetation productivity in Europe on average has a regional pattern of increase and decline. Increase was observed most in South Eastern Europe, over croplands and wetlands in the Steppic region and grasslands and sparsely vegetated lands and in the Black Sea and Anatolian regions. Decline happened most over croplands and grasslands in the Atlantic region as well as over wetlands in the Alpine region. Climate has important influence on vegetation productivity in Europe. Strongest is the influence of precipitation increase, especially in the South Eastern regions. Decreasing number of frost days increased productivity in the Pannonian region but decreased productivity in the Atlantic region. Climatic variations are important drivers of vegetation productivity, but land use changes are even stronger. Productivity was most increased by agricultural land management and converting other lands to agriculture, whereas largest decrease was caused by sprawling urban areas.

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The chart shows significant trends of vegetation productivity, expressed in % change. The % change values were derived from the fitted linear trend line.

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The map shows the temporal development of the distribution of warm-favouring (Lusitanian) fish species and of cool-favouring (Boreal) fish species by statistical area in yearly intervals, 1967 to 2018.

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For visualisation purposes, the initial 100 m spatial resolution Corine Land Cover dataset was re-sampled to a 10 km2 grid. The observation periods can be visualised by activating the 'layers' icon and selecting the respective periods.

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The chart shows the periodical change of land cover classes, expressed in km2 and calculated as a yearly value.

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The chart shows the area of land take and recultivation for the last Corine Land Cover observation period 2012-2018 for each EEA39 country. Both land take and recultivation are expressed in m2/km2 of the country area for the sake of comparability.

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Soil plays a crucial role in nature’s cycles, including the nutrient cycle, which involves how much soil organic matter — i.e. carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus — is taken up and stored in soil. Organic compounds, such as leaves and root tips, are broken down to simpler compounds by organisms living in soil before they can be used by plants. Some soil bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into mineral nitrogen, which is essential for plant growth. Fertilisers introduce nitrogen and phosphates to induce plant growth but not all amounts are taken up by plants. The excess can enter rivers and lakes and affect life in these water ecosystems.

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Soil plays a crucial role in nature’s cycles, including the nutrient cycle, which involves how much soil organic matter — i.e. carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus — is taken up and stored in soil. Organic compounds, such as leaves and root tips, are broken down to simpler compounds by organisms living in soil before they can be used by plants. Some soil bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into mineral nitrogen, which is essential for plant growth. Fertilisers introduce nitrogen and phosphates to induce plant growth but not all amounts are taken up by plants. The excess can enter rivers and lakes and affect life in these water ecosystems.

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The total ecological footprint of the EU-27 Member States plus the United Kingdom is high and is now more than twice the biocapacity available in the region (i.e. the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to act as sinks of carbon emissions). The picture is similar for the EEA-39 countries. The region’s high ecological footprint means that its total demand for ecological goods and services exceeds that which Europe’s ecosystems can supply. This results in a large ecological deficit, which has negative consequences for the environment within and outside Europe.

Read more

Vegetation productivity indicates the spatial distribution and change of the vegetation cover - a key characteristic of ecosystem condition.  Vegetation productivity in Europe on average has a regional pattern of increase and decline. Increase was observed most in South Eastern Europe, over croplands and wetlands in the Steppic region and grasslands and sparsely vegetated lands and in the Black Sea and Anatolian regions. Decline happened most over croplands and grasslands in the Atlantic region as well as over wetlands in the Alpine region. Climate has important influence on vegetation productivity in Europe. Strongest is the influence of precipitation increase, especially in the South Eastern regions. Decreasing number of frost days increased productivity in the Pannonian region but decreased productivity in the Atlantic region. Climatic variations are important drivers of vegetation productivity, but land use changes are even stronger. Productivity was most increased by agricultural land management and converting other lands to agriculture, whereas largest decrease was caused by sprawling urban areas.

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Recognition and understanding of the term 'biodiversity' has increased in the European Union. 71 % of interviewed EU citizens have heard of biodiversity and over 41 % of these know what it means. At least eight out of ten Europeans consider the various effects of biodiversity loss to be serious for humans and for nature and agree that it is important to halt its loss. The biggest perceived threats to biodiversity are pollution of air, soil and water, man-made disasters and climate change. Just under a third of respondents are aware of the Natura 2000 network, including 19 % who say they have heard about it but do not know what it is. However, the overwhelming majority agree that nature protection areas are very important in protecting endangered animals and plants or safeguarding nature's role in providing food, clean air and water. Most Europeans are not willing to trade damage or destruction of protected areas for economic development.

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The maps shows the time series of yearly vegetation productivity anomalies under drought impact aggregated by NUTS3 regions. Negative anomalies indicate vegetation productivity conditions which are lower than the long term average normal condition.

Read more

Vegetation productivity loss due to drought impacts and the extent of impacted areas are presented. Vegetation productivity loss is indicated by standardized anomalies of yearly vegetation productivity during 2000-2016, and are analyzed in areas with statistically significant drought pressure, measured as precipitation shortages and low soil moisture content. Anomalies are disaggregated and detailed by year, by country and major land cover categories. Negative anomalies indicate vegetation productivity conditions which are lower than the long term average normal condition. The extent of the impacted area is measured in km2.

Read more

The maps shows the time series of yearly vegetation productivity anomalies under drought impact aggregated by NUTS3 regions. Negative anomalies indicate vegetation productivity conditions which are lower than the long term average normal condition. The time series spans over 2000-2016 and individual years can be explored be choosing the year of interest in the drop-down filter.

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The map shows the temporal development of the distribution of warm-favouring (Lusitanian) fish species and of cool-favouring (Boreal) fish species by statistical area in yearly intervals, 1967 to 2018.

Read more

For visualisation purposes, the initial 100 m spatial resolution Corine Land Cover dataset was re-sampled to a 10 km2 grid. The observation periods can be visualised by activating the 'layers' icon and selecting the respective periods.

Read more

This web map application uses the new version of the Effective Mesh Density (seff) 2016 dataset with improved input data, for the years 2009, 2012 and 2015. This new dataset uses the Copernicus Imperviousness and the TomTom TeleAtlas data sets as fragmenting geometries. The application shows the change in effective mesh density (seff), i.e. the number of landscape elements between 2009 and 2012 and between 2012 and 2015.

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The chart shows the periodical change of land cover classes, expressed in km2 and calculated as a yearly value.

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The chart shows the area of land take and recultivation for the last Corine Land Cover observation period 2012-2018 for each EEA39 country. Both land take and recultivation are expressed in m2/km2 of the country area for the sake of comparability.

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The number of assessements is indicated in parentheses. The total number of assessments is 804.

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The areas of the coloured bars show the total ecological footprint of each region in 2016. They are the product of the per person ecological footprint and the population of each region. The biocapacity of each region is represented by the area within the red lines; the height shows the per capita biocapacity.

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The chart shows significant trends of vegetation productivity, expressed in % change. The % change values were derived from the fitted linear trend line.

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Timelines for achieving good environmental staus as reported by members states

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