Abstract
Protection of the environment is implemented through preventive and mitigating measures aimed at hindering anthropization processes. These measures may possibly entail the establishment of natural protected areas and sites where conservation measures are stated under the provisions of the “Habitats” Directive (No. 92/43/EEC) and Directive No. 2009/147/EC (the so-called “Birds” Directive, which modifies Directive No. 79/409/EEC). A straightforward way of assessing widespread anthropization processes consists in analyzing land cover changes related artificialization processes concerning natural areas. In this study, we assess land cover changes by using the simplified land cover taxonomy of the Land and Ecosystem Account classes and by analyzing transition processes; in addition, we propose a comparative appraisal of land cover changes occurring in areas characterized by different protection regimes, as follows: areas protected under the provisions of national or regional acts or regulations; sites belonging to the Natura 2000 network, that is, protected under the Habitats or Birds Directives; and unprotected areas. We analyze anthropization processes that take place in Sardinia, an Italian insular region characterized by the presence of several national and regional protected areas and by a significant system of Natura 2000 sites, and assess land cover changes over a twelve-year period (2000–2012). The outcomes of our study put in evidence important lessons related to the definition and implementation of planning policies aiming at preventing anthropization processes in Sardinia. Moreover, the assessment methodology we implement in our study can be exported to other European regions to set up planning processes that fit the local features of land cover changes.
Highlights
Preventing or limiting anthropization processes is one of the main objectives of environmental protection policies
The size of the land characterized by a given land cover group is provided, again as a percentage of the total area for the whole of Sardinia and for each of the protection levels here analyzed
We describe land cover changes trough the Land and Ecosystem Accounting” (LEAC) taxonomy and quantify their transitions as the size of the area whose classification changes across the LEAC macrocategories
Summary
Preventing or limiting anthropization processes is one of the main objectives of environmental protection policies. Anthropization processes are in this study understood, following Martínez-Fernández et al [1], as the sets of processes that lead to more natural to less natural land covers. The establishment of protected areas plays a significant role in protecting biodiversity and natural areas from human-induced pressures in terms of progressive artificialization [3,4]. Processes such as deforestation, agricultural expansion and urbanization bring about the reduction and fragmentation of habitats, possible decline in the number of species and the introduction of invasive alien species [5]
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