Czechia

% of land is covered by value protected areas.
species and habitats are protected under EU law

Czechia is a land-locked and bordered by 4 other countries with a terrestrial area of close to 79 000 km². The western Bohemia region is drained by the Elbe and Vltava rivers, surrounded by low mountains, the eastern Moravia region has low lying hills and is drained by the Morava River. The highest point is Sněžka at 1603m. Czechia has a population of 10.6 million people and a population density of 137.7 people per km².

Protected areas

% of land

There are a total of protected areas in Czechia, Natura 2000 sites - Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as sites designated under national laws.

% of the network is protected only through national laws

% of the network consists solely of Natura 2000 sites

% consist of and overlap between the two.

The average size of protected areas in Europe is lower compared to other regions of the world. This largely reflects the high degree of fragmentation of the land in Europe due to urbanisation, infrastructure and general intensification of land use. At a EU level 50% of protected areas have an area of less than 1 km². The 10 largest marine sites account for 68% of the marine area, while the 10 largest land sites account for 41% of the land area covered by protected areas

Size distribution of Czechia's land protected areas network

Natura 2000 sites in Czechia cover species and habitats from the nature directives. The number of species and habitats protected in each site varies depending on the location of the site, the biodiversity in the region, the designation being used, and the features the site is being created to protect. For sites there is only 1 feature being protected with sites having more than 20 features.

Protected species

Species protected in Czechia under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive and under the Birds Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 2 500 species on its list, the Birds Directive has a total of 500 species of wild birds protected.

species protected under EU law in Czechia

species are unique to Czechia

species under the Habitats Directive

species under the Birds Directive

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

% of species are considered to be Good

% of species are considered to be Poor

% of species are considered to be Bad

% of species are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Taxa

Protected species composition by Taxa

Protected habitats

Habitats protected in Czechia under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 233 habitats on its list.

habitats protected under EU law in Czechia.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

% of habitats are considered to be Good

% of habitats are considered to be Poor

% of habitats are considered to be Bad

% of habitats are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Group

Habitat composition by Group

Ecosystems

Policy

MAES in Czechia:

Czechia carried out habitat mapping by field survey. Data were complemented by remote sensing, so the ecosystem mapping is completed. Information on structure and functions of semi-natural habitats together with other data sources (agro-environmental schemes, WFD etc.) could be utilised in order to estimate condition of ecosystems. Study on ecosystem services was completed 2013. Either biophysical quantities or socio-economic values were derived for 17 services on the basis of benefit/value transfer. All the work has been delivered by scientists and experts and is not recognized by policy-makers so far. Outcomes still wait for implementation. Policy support also needed to get data from sectors. Important to highlight why this work is useful outside biodiversity community.

Green infrastructure in Czechia:

The responsibility for environmental laws and policies lies with the Ministry of Environment or Regional Authorities (e.g. environmental departments of regional authorities). There is no specific legislation on green infrastructure, but several that mention landscape protection and restoration of ecosystems.

National Biodiversity strategy for Czechia:

To report on progress to the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, the European Commission extracted relevant information from the EU Member States’ 5^th national reports to the CBD. Of the 5 countries which had not finalized their national reports at the time of the synthesis (26^th of August 2015), Greece, Malta, Portugal and Lithuania provided information to be included in the synthesis.