Technical Guidelines for assessing and monitoring the condition of Annex I habitat types of the Directive 92/43/EEC

The Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) requires Member States to assess and monitor the conservation status of habitat types listed in Annex I (Art. 11) and to submit a report with the results of this monitoring every six years (Art.17). One key parameter for assessing status is the condition of the habitat, defined primarily by its structure, function and species composition. Improving the condition of habitat types and expanding the knowledge about them is a key objective of the Nature Restoration Regulation (2024/1991), which entered into force in August 2024. Therefore, accurate information on condition of habitat types is crucial implementing both EU legal acts.The European Commission, the European Environmental Agency, and Member States have identified the monitoring of Annex I habitat condition as an area needing harmonization and guidance. These technical guidelines are designed to support this goal and serve as a practical reference for competent authorities, conservation practitioners, scientific experts, and agencies involved in habitat monitoring, assessment and reporting under EU legislation. They aim to promote the harmonisation of methodologies to achieve more comparable and consistent results across the EU Member States and biogeographical regions.