Effectiveness of Natura 2000 areas for environmental protection in 21 European countries

Abstract

To assess the dynamics of changes in CORINE Land Cover classes in areas of the Natura 2000 ecological network, three landscape metrics were examined. Traditional pixel-based classification, with majority rules aggregation based on the example of the CORINE Land Cover dataset, was applied. To identify the possible differences in the considered metrics, according to the year as well as to the country, statistical analysis between the linear mixed model and the variance model with repeated measurements was performed. The results of both tests are very similar. In the 1990–2012 period, the share of CORINE Land Cover class “Artificial areas” in all tested areas increased by 21.1% (the highest growth ratios were recorded in Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and in Spain). On the other hand, such countries as Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Lithuania and Estonia are characterised by the loss of artificial areas. At the same time, the share of “Forest and semi-natural areas” as well as “Water bodies” increased slightly. Negative trends that took place in the periods 1990–2000 and 2000–2006 were effectively stopped in the subsequent period, 2006–2012. Overall, for all the analysed countries, a minimal loss in environmental and landscape diversity was observed. Our results may be used as a basis for drawing conclusions on the effectiveness of environmental and landscape management systems in various countries. They might also constitute the starting point for detailed analysis of the management process.