Spain
No data provider% of land, No data provider% of ocean covered by value protected areas.
No data provider species and No data provider habitats protected under EU law
Spain is the second largest EU country with a terrestrial area of close to 506 000 km² and a marine area over 1 million km² split between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It consists of the peninsular mainland and the volcanic Atlantic Canary Islands and the Mediterranean Balearic Islands, as well as the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the plazas de soberanía on the coast of North Afrcia. It is bordered by 5 other countries. The highest point is Teide (Canary Islands) at 3 718m. Spain has a population of 46.9 million people and a population density of 93.1 people per km².
Protected areas
No data provider Protected areas
No data provider% of land
No data provider% of ocean
There are a total of No data provider protected areas in , No data provider Natura 2000 sites - No data provider Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and No data provider Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as No data provider sites designated under national laws.
No data provider
No data provider% of the network is protected only through national laws
No data provider% of the network consists solely of Natura 2000 sites
No data provider% 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 's land protected areas network
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Size distribution of 's marine protected areas network
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Natura 2000 sites in cover No data provider species and No data provider 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 No data provider sites there is only 1 feature being protected with No data provider sites having more than 20 features.
The 10 Natura2000 sites with the most number of species & habitats designated.
Protected species
Species protected in 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.
No data provider species protected under EU law in
No data provider species are unique to
No data provider species under the Habitats Directive
No data provider species under the Birds Directive
Conservation status: Habitats Directive
No data provider% of species are considered to be Good
No data provider% of species are considered to be Poor
No data provider% of species are considered to be Bad
No data provider% of species are considered to be Unknown
Conservation Status by Taxa
Protected species present in the most number of sites
Protected species present in the least number of sites
Protected species composition by Taxa
Protected habitats
Habitats protected in under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 233 habitats on its list.
No data provider habitats protected under EU law in .
Conservation status: Habitats Directive
No data provider% of habitats are considered to be Good
No data provider% of habitats are considered to be Poor
No data provider% of habitats are considered to be Bad
Conservation Status by Group
Habitat composition by Group
Ecosystems
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Policy
MAES in Spain:
The Spanish National Ecosystem Assessment (SNEA), began in 2009, completed its biophysical evaluation in 2012 (Sythesis report). This project included an assessment of the condition of the Spanish ecosystems and biodiversity, a future scenario exercise and a spatial explicit analysis on biodiversity, ecosystem services, land use change and socioeconomic variables.
Green infrastructure in Spain:
Previously, the focus of Spanish policy was to implement measures ensuring connectivity between existing protected areas rather than promoting the development of a comprehensive and coherent ecological network (Sygyzy, 2010). More recent changes to national legislation and strategy, however, include provisions for the establishment of a national Strategy on Green Infrastructure, Connectivity and Ecological Restoration. The elaboration of this national strategy is on-going (Trinomics et al., 2016).
National Biodiversity strategy for Spain:
To report on progress to the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, the European Commission extracted relevant information from the EU Member States’ 5th national reports to the CBD. Of the 5 countries which had not finalized their national reports at the time of the synthesis (26th of August 2015), Greece, Malta, Portugal and Lithuania provided information to be included in the synthesis.
The Biodiversity information system for Europe is a partnership between
the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.
Other European Information Systems