Italy

% of land, % of marine waters are covered by protected areas.
species and habitats are protected under EU law

Italy has the Alps to the north, the large Po valley and a backbone of the Apennine mountains with several islands including the two largest islands in the Mediterranean, Sardinia and Sicily. country with a terrestrial area over 300 000 km² and a marine area close to 587 000km². It is bordered by 6 other countries. The highest point is Monte Bianco at 4 809m on the French border. Italy has a population of 60 million people and a population density of 202.9 people per km².

Protected areas

% of land

% of marine waters

There are a total of protected areas in Italy, 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 Italy's land protected areas network

Size distribution of Italy's marine protected areas network

Natura 2000 sites in Italy 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 Italy 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 Italy

species are unique to Italy

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 Italy 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 Italy.

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 Italy:

In Italy, the National Law 221/2015 Environmental measures for promoting green economy and limiting the excessive use of natural resources, has established the adoption of Annual Reports in order to promote measure of physical and economic dimensions of Natural Capital stocks and flows, following the methodologies defined by the United Nations Organization and the European Union, as well as ex ante and ex post assessment of the effects of public policies on Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services.

Green infrastructure in Italy:

National Law 221/2015 “Environmental measures for promoting green economy and limiting the excessive use of natural resources” established the Italian Natural Capital Committee (INCC), composed of institutional members along with experts appointed by the Italian Minister of Environment, Land & Sea. The INCC’s mandate is to provide arguments for consideration of the Natural Capital within public policy in Italy. The INCC published in February 2017 the 1st Report on the State of Natural Capital in Italy.

National Biodiversity strategy for Italy:

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.