Editing Natura 2000 (section)

==Current status==
{{as of|2017}}, Natura 2000 protected 27,312 sites with a terrestrial area of {{cvt|787,606|km2}} (around 18 percent of land of the EU countries) and marine area of {{cvt|360,350|km2}},<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/barometer/index_en.htm Natura 2000 Barometer] last retrieved 14 July 2017.</ref> and was considered almost complete in the EU terrestrial environment. The process of designation has not always been smooth as the infringement procedures against member states show.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2022-05/annual-activity-report-2021-environment_en.pdf |title=Annual Activity Report 2021 |date=31 March 2022 |publisher=Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission |author=DG Environment |author-link=Directorate-General for the Environment |access-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429025629/https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2022-05/annual-activity-report-2021-environment_en.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2023 |url-status=live |page=11 |quote=Action was taken against 9 Member States to ensure the completion of the Natura 2000 network and the adequate conservation of the Special Areas of Conservation, and was pursued against 5 Member States to address the insufficient protection of species and habitats in decline due to infrastructure projects, agricultural practices or illegal logging.}}</ref> While designation of sites may be near complete, the management and enforcement of protection on sites is less advanced and many sites lack management plans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdlife.org/sites/default/files/attachments/On-the-Road-to-Recovery.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114235634/http://www.birdlife.org/sites/default/files/attachments/On-the-Road-to-Recovery.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2020 |url-status=dead |title=On the Road to Recovery? |access-date=7 May 2017 |publisher=BirdLife International}}</ref> Natura 2000 faced criticism from developers, farmers and politicians who fear that the conservation of habitats and species places a brake on development.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.07.009|title=Performing failure in conservation policy: The implementation of European Union directives in the Netherlands|journal=Land Use Policy|volume=31|pages=280–288|year=2013|last1=Beunen|first1=Raoul|last2=Van Assche|first2=Kristof|last3=Duineveld|first3=Martijn|bibcode=2013LUPol..31..280B }}</ref>

In 2013, there were {{cvt|251,564|km2}} designated as Natura 2000 in the marine environment. The network in marine areas is not considered complete and acknowledged by the Commission as a "key challenge for EU [[biodiversity]] policy in the coming years".<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/marine/index_en.htm European Commission Natura 2000 in the marine environment] last retrieved 31-10-14</ref>

Natura 2000 sites can vary considerably in character. They are not strictly protected in terms of how they are allowed to be used by people. Many sites are farmed, forested and some are even in urban areas. Other areas are much wilder. The [[European Commission]] developed guidelines on the relation between Natura 2000 and wild areas which are thought to make up around 13% of the network.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/wilderness/index_en.htm European Commission  Wilderness in Europe] last retrieved 31-10-14</ref> This was in response to a report by [[Member of the European Parliament|Members of the European Parliament]] in 2009 which called for further protection of Europe's wilderness.<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/064-47957-033-02-06-911-20090202STO47940-2009-02-02-2009/default_en.htm MEPs Respond to Call to Protect Europe] last retrieved 04-02-09</ref>

<gallery widths="200px">
File:NATURA 2000 Gebiet Haslauer Moor.jpg|Sign identifying a "Natura 2000 area" (''Haslauer Moor'' nature reserve) in [[Austria]]
File:Natura2000belgiumLesse.jpg|Sign identifying a Natura 2000 site in [[Belgium]].
File:Schild Natura 2000 Lieberoser Endmoraene und Staakower Laeuche 01.JPG|Sign identifying a "European protected area" ([[Special Area of Conservation]] ''Lieberoser Endmoräne und Staakower Läuche'') in [[Germany]]
File:Foloi oak forest.JPG| The [[Foloi oak forest]] in [[Greece]] is a Natura 2000 site.
File:Castro Verde Countryside2.JPG|[[Castro Verde]], Natura 2000 site in [[Portugal]]
File:Morava small lake.jpg|Natura 2000 locality in [[Slovakia]]
File:Näverkärr skugga.jpg|[[Näverkärr]] in [[Bohuslän]], [[Sweden]], is a Natura 2000 site.
File:Omenainen ortho image.jpg|An aerial photography of the [[Omenainen]] island, Natura 2000 site in [[Finland]]
File:1109 Wielki Karw Odra.jpg|Natura 2000 locality in [[Police, West Pomeranian Voivodeship|Police, Poland]] (estuary of [[Oder]] and [[Szczecin Lagoon]])
File:Oostvaardersplassen cattle.jpg|The [[Oostvaardersplassen]] is a Natura 2000 site in the [[Netherlands]].
</gallery>