Designated but non-present habitats in SAC (EVINBO)

Details

The designation acts from 2014 for each Special Area of Conservation (SAC) specify the habitat types for which the SAC is designated. These habitat types have been notified to the European Commission via the Standard Data Forms (SDF) and site-specific conservation objectives (SSCO) have been set. All this was done based on the knowledge available up to 2014.
Further research has since shown that several habitats no (longer) occur in certain SACs that have nevertheless been designated for it. The EC prescribes that the removal (“de-listing”) of a habitat from the SDF/designation acts is only allowed for three reasons:
(1) the original listing is a proven genuine scientific error, or
(2) natural developments beyond the control of the Member State (e.g. climate change) have made the SSCO for that habitat type unachievable, or
(3) the correct application of Article 6 of the Habitats Directive (4).
In order to make use of the first justification (genuine scientific error), it is important to scientifically establish that a habitat has never occurred in a SAC, in contrast to cases where a habitat no longer occurs in a SAC (e.g. where it disappeared as a result of environmental pressures or lack of conservation measures).
In at least 24 cases, there is doubt about the occurrence (since 1994) of a designated habitat in a SAC, because the habitat in that SAC has never been recorded on INBO's Natura 2000 habitat maps (Paelinckx et al., 2021; analysis to be updated with Habitat Map edition 2025). For these cases, we need to check whether there is a genuine scientific error.
The historical-ecological analysis is not limited to the period since 1994. Knowledge about historical occurrence (before 1994) provides additional insights into the feasibility of establishing and restoring these habitats, and thus into the usefulness of maintaining targets for those habitats in the SAC. The de-listing of an unrealistic target habitat, especially if it is a habitat with a low critical load for nitrogen deposition, can mean a relaxation of the necessary nitrogen abating measures in and around the SAC. On the other hand, depending on the “overall coherence of the network” required by the EC, it may sometimes be necessary to shift such targets (in whole or in part) to other SACs.

Status	Running
Actual start/end date	01/01/2026 - 31/12/2026

Teams

• Biotope Diversity

INBO Research theme(s)

• Protected nature

Tags

• habitat
• habitats_directive
• natura2000