Table of Contents
Annex VIII-g: MARINE
Introduction
Marine Annex I coverage in the EU
Condition of habitats
Annex VIII-g: MARINE
Introduction
This paper provides information derived from the Member States' reports and assessments under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. It is a background information to help identify possible restoration targets for the 'legal binding instrument' under the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030.
The 'marine' group includes six habitat types listed in Annex I of the Habitats Directive (see Table 1). Three other habitats, normally considered marine, are included in the 'wetlands' group
.
Table 1 – Marine Annex I habitat types selected for this analysis
|
Marine habitats (6 types)
|
|
1110
|
Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time
|
|
1120
|
Posidonia beds (Posidonion oceanicae)
|
|
1160
|
Large shallow inlets and bays
|
|
1170
|
Reefs
|
|
1180
|
Submarine structures made by leaking gases
|
|
8330
|
Submerged or partially submerged sea caves
|
Marine Annex I coverage in the EU
The six habitat types selected cover over
240 030 km2 (see Map 1); this excludes areas reported by Romania, which are known to be largely overestimated
.
Map 1 – Distribution of the 6 Annex I marine habitats in the EU
Source: Distribution maps (10 km x 10 km) delivered by Member States under Article 17 reporting (period 2013-2018)
Note: the shades of brown indicate the number of habitat types per 10 km x 10 km grid cell.
Table 2 gives the areas of marine habitats for each Member State, including coverage by Natura 2000 network. Maps illustrating the distribution of each marine habitat in the EU are available in Annex A.
The habitat type with the largest area is 1170 – reefs (55 % of the total marine habitats), followed by 1110 – sandbanks (26 %) and 1160 – large shallow inlets and bays (16 %).
From the 240 030 km2 of marine habitats (excluding Romania), only 30% is estimated to be inside the Natura 2000 network (about 71 255 km2); this may be an underestimation since reports from Member States were not comprehensive in this regard (Table 2).
Table 2 – Area and proportion of marine Annex I habitats per Member State
|
|
In the Member State
|
Inside Natura 2000
|
|
|
Marine habitats area (km2)
|
Proportion of the marine habitats (%)
|
Marine area (km2)
|
% marine area
|
|
Belgium
|
4 617.0
|
1.85
|
1 606.0
|
79.4
|
|
Bulgaria
|
116.6
|
0.05
|
42.7
|
76.3
|
|
Croatia (#)
|
798.4
|
0.32
|
1 037.2
|
129.9
|
|
Cyprus
|
398.6
|
0.16
|
204.4
|
51.3
|
|
Denmark
|
17 530.8
|
7.03
|
8 284.9
|
47.3
|
|
Estonia
|
3 077.0
|
1.23
|
659.0
|
21.4
|
|
Finland
|
3 495.0
|
1.40
|
839.0
|
24.0
|
|
France
|
41 067.8
|
16.47
|
11 488.5
|
28.0
|
|
Germany
|
15 814.9
|
6.34
|
10 798.8
|
68.3
|
|
Greece
|
10 850.0
|
4.35
|
1 119.0
|
10.3
|
|
Ireland
|
27 187.0
|
10.91
|
4 600.0
|
16.9
|
|
Italy
|
3 980.8
|
1.60
|
2 206.1
|
55.4
|
|
Latvia
|
1 037.8
|
0.42
|
670.6
|
64.6
|
|
Lithuania
|
461.0
|
0.18
|
187.9
|
40.8
|
|
Malta
|
297.6
|
0.12
|
261.7
|
87.9
|
|
Netherlands
|
12 907.0
|
5.18
|
9 338.0
|
72.3
|
|
Poland
|
864.9
|
0.35
|
864.9
|
100.0
|
|
Portugal
|
65 290.0
|
26.19
|
381.4
|
0.6
|
|
Romania (*)
|
9 269.5
|
3.72
|
5 169.5
|
55.8
|
|
Slovenia
|
0.1
|
0.00
|
0.1
|
45.8
|
|
Spain
|
12 648.7
|
5.07
|
10 638.8
|
84.1
|
|
Sweden
|
17 590.0
|
7.06
|
6 026.0
|
34.3
|
|
Total
|
249 300.6
|
|
76 424.4
|
30.7
|
|
Total
(without Romania)
|
240 030.1
|
|
71 254.9
|
29.7
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes: (*) areas reported by Romania likely to be overestimated; (#) Croatia reported a bigger area in the network than the total area of the habitat in the country.
Coverage by Natura 2000 sites greatly varies according to the Member State: from 100 % (Croatia, Poland) to less than 1 % (Portugal
). The degree of coverage by the network also varies from habitat to habitat: from only 6% for marine caves to over 50% for sandbanks and Posidonia beds (Table 3).
Table 3 – Area and proportion of marine habitats per sub-group
|
|
|
Inside Natura 2000
|
|
EU27
excluding Romania
|
Area of marine habitat (km2)
|
marine area (km2)
|
% marine area
|
|
1110
|
61 038
|
31 435
|
52
|
|
1120
|
8 015
|
3 997
|
50
|
|
1160
|
36 220
|
14 988
|
41
|
|
1170
|
126 488
|
20 173
|
16
|
|
1180
|
408
|
187
|
46
|
|
8330
|
7 863
|
475
|
6
|
|
TOTAL
|
240 030
|
71 255
|
30
|
Condition of habitats
Member States reported on the condition of habitat types under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive. This data can be used to estimate the area of marine habitats assessed as degraded (condition not-good) therefore, requiring restoration.
The area of Annex I marine habitats that would need to be restored, i.e., improved condition, is at least 34 828 km2, representing 15 % of the total area of marine habitats reported (the values exclude Romania). However, the condition of habitats reported as 'unknown' (or not reported) is about 168 390 km2 (70 % of the total habitat area). This means that the area requiring restoration is much bigger than 34 828 km2; for example, assuming that half of the 'unknown' area is in a not-good condition, the area to be restored would be over 119 000 km2 or 203 200 km2 if all the 'unknown' is assumed to be in a 'not-good' condition (70 % of the total marine habitats area). Table 4 gives information for each of the six marine habitats (excluding Romania) and Table 5 the condition areas and percentage for each of the Member States.
In addition to the habitat condition, Member States also reported on the 'favourable reference areas'
. Comparing this area with the actual habitat area allows to estimate how much area of the habitat would need to be re-created to achieve a good distribution and area of the habitat. Based on this data, it is estimated that a strict minimum of 1 620 km2 would need to be re-created to achieve a ‘favourable area’.
However, these values are much higher since several Member States did not provide enough information in their reports to allow a more realistic estimation.
Table 4 – Condition of Annex I marine habitats
|
|
|
Condition (area in km2)
|
Condition (in percentage)
|
|
|
Habitat area
|
Good
|
Not-good
|
Unknown
|
Good
|
Not-good
|
Unknown
|
|
Marine habitat
|
240 031.1
|
36 813.1
|
34 827.6
|
168 390.4
|
15
|
15
|
70
|
|
1110
|
61 038.0
|
11 891.7
|
14 204.7
|
34 941.6
|
13
|
36
|
52
|
|
1120
|
8 014.5
|
3 100.0
|
461.5
|
4 452.9
|
34
|
8
|
57
|
|
1160
|
36 220.2
|
2 488.0
|
13 297.3
|
20 434.9
|
13
|
25
|
62
|
|
1170
|
126 487.6
|
19 271.3
|
6 861.0
|
100 355.2
|
82
|
7
|
11
|
|
1180
|
407.5
|
25.0
|
0.0
|
382.5
|
76
|
16
|
8
|
|
8330
|
7 863.2
|
37.0
|
3.0
|
7 823.2
|
61
|
35
|
4
|
Note: Areas reported by Romania excluded from the table.
Table 5 – Condition of Annex I marine habitats per Member State
|
|
Marine area (km2)
|
|
Percentage
|
|
|
Member State
|
Total
|
Good
|
Not-good
|
Unknown
|
Good
|
Not-good
|
Unknown
|
|
BE
|
4 617.0
|
2 750.0
|
477.0
|
1 390.0
|
60
|
10
|
30
|
|
BG
|
116.6
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
116.6
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
CY
|
398.6
|
433.2
|
0.0
|
-34.6
|
109
|
0
|
-9
|
|
DE
|
15 814.9
|
3 914.5
|
3 332.3
|
8 568.1
|
25
|
21
|
54
|
|
DK
|
17 530.8
|
443.8
|
12 083.1
|
5 003.9
|
3
|
69
|
29
|
|
EE
|
3 077.0
|
2 225.3
|
90.8
|
761.0
|
72
|
3
|
25
|
|
ES
|
12 648.7
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
12 648.7
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
FI
|
3 495.0
|
471.5
|
572.5
|
2 451.0
|
13
|
16
|
70
|
|
FR
|
41 067.8
|
16 289.5
|
1 693.0
|
23 085.3
|
40
|
4
|
56
|
|
GR
|
10 850.0
|
3 919.5
|
3 440.5
|
3 490.0
|
36
|
32
|
32
|
|
HR
|
798.4
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
798.4
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
IE
|
27 187.0
|
2 645.0
|
3 014.0
|
21 528.0
|
10
|
11
|
79
|
|
IT
|
3 980.8
|
|
|
3 980.8
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
LT
|
461.0
|
176.3
|
0.0
|
284.7
|
38
|
0
|
62
|
|
LV
|
1 037.8
|
0.0
|
984.5
|
53.3
|
0
|
95
|
5
|
|
MT
|
297.6
|
228.4
|
4.0
|
65.2
|
77
|
1
|
22
|
|
NL
|
12 907.0
|
2 671.0
|
8 916.0
|
1 320.0
|
21
|
69
|
10
|
|
PL
|
864.9
|
645.0
|
219.9
|
0.0
|
75
|
25
|
0
|
|
PT
|
65 290.0
|
|
|
65 290.0
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
RO
|
9 269.5
|
7 340.0
|
1 880.6
|
49.0
|
79
|
20
|
1
|
|
SE
|
17 590.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
17 590.0
|
0
|
0
|
100
|
|
SI
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
67
|
33
|
0
|
Note: (*) areas reported by Romania likely to be largely overestimated
Annex A
Map 2 – Distribution of habitat 1110 – Sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water at all time
Map 3 – Distribution of habitat 1120 – Posidonia beds
Map 4 – Distribution of habitat 1160 – Large shallow inlets and bays
Map 5 – Distribution of habitat 1170 - Reefs
Map 5 – Distribution of habitat 1180 – Submarine structures made by leaking gases
Map 5 – Distribution of habitat 8330 – Submerged or partially submerged sea caves
