EU agrees new Natura 2000 network expansion

 Monday 10 January 2011

The EU's Natura 2000 network has expanded, with the addition of a further 739 locations, including 17 new marine sites, covering nearly 27,000 square kilometres. The European Commission gave the go-ahead on Monday.

The network now covers nearly 18% of the EU's landmass and more than 130,000km2 of its seas. The new expansion covers six bio-geographical zones, with major additions in Denmark, France, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic. There are also smaller additions in Estonia, Cyprus, Italy, Latvia and Sweden.

The commission is planning to issue a paper on financing mechanisms for Natura 2000 later on this year. At the moment, most funding comes from member states, although some also comes from the LIFE+ programme and other schemes. Options envisaged http://www.endseurope.com/25283?referrer=bulletin&DCMP=EMC-ENDS-EUROPE-DAILY include greater private sector funds and lower EU contributions.

Follow-up: Commission press release http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/18&format=HTML

plus memo http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/9&format=HTML

and Natura 2000 webpage http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/index_en.htm

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