Romanian Natura 2000 Network: Evaluation of the Threats and Pressures through the Corine Land Cover Dataset

Adrian Ursu,Andrei Enea,Cristian Constantin Stoleriu,Vasile Jitariu,Constantin Ion

doi:10.3390/rs12132075

Abstract

The present paper aims to evaluate if the Natura 2000 sites in Romania are placed over dynamic areas from a land cover changes perspective, or if they are placed in areas with low human interest and what the impact of these changes are. The effectiveness of conservation measures was addressed by analyzing the number of land cover changes and their areas in Natura 2000 sites, before and after declaring them as protected areas. Corine Land Cover (CLC) data were used as a tool to identify threats and pressures from each Natura 2000 site, and also assess whether land cover changes are more frequent in sites with a high biodiversity index, compared to those with low diversity, in order to estimate the conservation status. Changes in the land cover during 1990–2018 are characterized by three types of events, from 1990 to 2000 with most changes recorded, followed by a relative period of stability from 2000 to 2012; the most dynamic period is from 2012 to 2018. The main changes are due to deforestation. Only 29.7% ROSCI (Romanian Sites of Community Importance) and 36.5% ROSPA (Romanian Special Protected Areas) sites are characterized by a good degree of conservation without or with low modifications regarding the land cover. The most frequent threats and pressures that were found through CLC changes in the ROSCIs in Romania are related to forestry, grazing, the extent of the urbanized environment and those related to agriculture. The correspondence between Corine Land Cover and Natura 2000 specific threats and pressures emphasizes new guidelines for the Corine Land Cover program; therefore, this correspondence can be a potential tool to get more information for Natura 2000 sites.

Highlights

Romania is a country with significant surfaces of pristine forests and rich fauna, and these resources must be protected at all levels
Before 2007, the year of Romanian admission to the European Union (EU), the total surface occupied by nature reserves, national and natural parks represented only 5.85% of the country’s surface, and after the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, all of these protected areas were integrated into Natura 2000 Network alongside the new designated sites
Studies regarding the land cover changes over biodiversity were conducted in the UK, where the results showed that changes recorded within the Natura 2000 sites suggest that they are generally well protected, and that they change less than the surrounding landscape [21]

Summary

Introduction

Romania is a country with significant surfaces of pristine forests and rich fauna, and these resources must be protected at all levels. Before 2007, the year of Romanian admission to the European Union (EU), the total surface occupied by nature reserves, national and natural parks represented only 5.85% of the country’s surface, and after the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, all of these protected areas were integrated into Natura 2000 Network alongside the new designated sites. The Natura 2000 sites naming system involves two aspects: the first two letters represent the country code (i.e., FR, for France; or RO, for Romania), followed by characters, representing the type of site (SCI—Sites of Community Importance; SPA—Special Protection Areas for birds), while the letters at the end of each site, represents a unique identifier number code. Romania has over 600 European reserves: Romanian Sites of Community Importance (ROSCI—435) and Romanian Special Protected Areas for birds (ROSPA—171) distributed in all biogeographical regions in the country, representing 26.04 % of country’s total surface (ROSPA—3875298 ha, ROSCI—4650819 ha). Romanian SCI represent 4.69% from European SCI and Romanian SPA comprises 5.1% from European SPA

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