Transcript biogeographical region

NATURA 2000
implementation in Bulgaria
Andrey Kovatchev
Natura 2000 Expert, BALKANI Wildlife
Society, Bulgaria
DEPA project - Green Balkans Federation NGO
in cooperation with the
Ministry of Environment and Waters
Budget: 500 000 Euro
Non systematic approach – field inventories of preliminary
identified territories (CORINE Biotops Sites, protected
areas, expert opinion) on 12.5% of the countries territory
Lack of division between pSCIs and pSPAs.
At the end – based on best expert opinion identified as
potential NATURA 2000 sites on 34% of the countries
territory. 16 % of them studied.
CORINE Biotops project
Other territories
Non protected territories
Nature Parks
National Parks
Natural Reserves
Map of potential NATURA 2000 sites at the end of 2004
16% of the country’s territory
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studied
by the end of 2004.
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34%
of the country’s territory
coverage of all potential sites.
Division of work on the designation of pSCIs and pSPAs
Projects financed by Bulgarian Government:
 for inventory of pSCIs and coordination of this action
with other projects: Green Balkans Federation NGO,
budget: 700 000 EURO
 for inventory of pSPAs and coordination of this action
with other projects: Bulgarian Society for the Protection
of Birds (BirdLife Bulgaria), budget: 150 000 EURO
Contribution of other projects with international financing
– overall more than 2 500 000 EURO
• Project of NGO coalition “NATURA 2000 in Bulgaria – public
contribution”, PIN MATRA
• Projects of WWF DCP in Danube basin
• GEF project “Conservation of globally important biodiversity in the
Rhodope landscape”
• Project “Prime Butterfly Areas” of Butterfly Conservation Europe
(Wageningen) and National Natural History Museum, PIN MATRA
program
• Project of Forestry Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences“Inventory and strategy for protection of old growth forests in
Bulgaria”, PIN MATRA
• Development of Brown bear action plan, coordinated by BALKANI
Wildlife Society, PIN MATRA and BBI MATRA
• Development of Chamois Action Plan: 2007 -2016, implemented by
Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation
• Project of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on new Bulgarian Red Data
Book
• A number of smaller projects
Till October 2006 - submitted scientific proposals
for pSCIs covering 35% of country’s land territory
October –November 2006 - working group initiated by
NGOs:
•Participants – NGOs, key experts, Ministry of
Environment and Waters, Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry
•Tasks: to complete sufficient scientific list of pSCIs
according to the criteria of Stage 2
•Results – Optimization of submitted documentation to
225 sites occupying 28,6 % of country’s land territory
Comparison - version 20 October (35%) and version 20 November
(28,6%)
NGOs submitted proposals - Green Balkans Federation, BALKANI Wildlife Society, WWF – DCP
Bulgaria, Center for Environmental Information and Education, Association of Parks
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NGOs submitted proposals - Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds
2007
Political process of designation of NATURA 2000 network
Delayed decision of the Council of Ministers
• The decision on list of pSCIs and pSPAs is made on 15 February 2007 –
one and a half months after EU accession date
•The decision is made available to public on 5 March 2007.
•The decision is to cut both list of sites leading to drastic insufficiencies in
both lists.
•The decision is justified on purely economic grounds. It stipulates future
exclusion from borders of SPAs and SACs of all areas with development
demands and spatial plans appeared to date of issuing of designation
order.
List of SPAs – excluded (red) and adopted (green)
List of pSCIs – excluded (red) and adopted (green)
2007
Soap opera
Coins to pay
EU sanctions
Species left
outside of
NATURA
2000
Every week protests for NATURA 2000 in
front of the Council of Ministers
Political umbrella…
2007
•Number of other street protest for
protection of NATURA sites and
against different threats
•Campaign within government –
letters, position papers, meetings
with Ministers
•Written statements and submission in
Brussels, meetings with representatives of EU
Commission and with the European
Commissioner Stavros Dimas (April
2007)(with support of international networks)
- network so week that even biogeographical
seminar could not be started
After 1 year of an NGO campaign almost all proposed sites
adopted in December 2007 and submitted in EU – SPAs and pSCIs
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Overlapping between pSCIs (28,6) and SPAs (23,4)–together 34,5%
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2007
Political process of designation of NATURA 2000 network
Final differences – scientific proposal – political decision (despite 1
year delay)
• pSCIs – missing site “Rila – buffer” – question lefto to be decided by the
biogeographical seminars
•SPAs – significantly reduced sites Pirin, Rila, Central Balkan, Rhodopi
Zapadni and Kaliakra. Started in 2007 infringement procedure by the
European Commission. In 2010 with the exception of Kaliakra (still
pending) all sites finally designated in near original scientific borders by
the Government in order to prevent appeal in the Court of justice.
Biogeographical seminar
Habitats Directive:
•
•
Art. 4 (1) and Annex III Stage 1- National list (pSCIs)
Art. 4 (2) and Annex III Stage 2 – Assessment by the
Commission in agreement with Member State (biogeographic
seminars followed by bilateral negotiations)
Formal requirement – to select SCIs from a larger list of pSCIs
(criteria in Stage 1 define broader set of zones)
Reality during biogeographical seminars – to assess
insufficiencies in the official Member state proposals and identify
places for upgrading with new sites to achieve coherence
Biogeographical seminar
Preparation - the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity
(ETC/BD) (important to be lobbied by the NGOs)
• official advisory scientific body, participating at the seminar
• Preliminary technical and scientific analysis of the pSCIs
• Preparation of the official documentation prior the seminars:
a. The reference lists for each biogeographical region
b. The Natura 2000 standard data forms of all the sites proposed by the
Member States for the biogeographical region
c. Maps of sites proposed - each habitat/species per biogeographical region
d. A summary table - each habitat/species per biogeographical region ,
- the number of sites proposed by each Member States
- the coverage (indicated by %)
- Coherence analyses, first preliminary conclusions and comments
Biogeographical seminar
Criteria stage 2 for selecting SCIs (Annex III Habitats
Directive)• relative national value
• migration routes of species
• cross-border ecosystem (internal Community frontiers)
• total area of the site
• number of habitats and species in the site
• global ecological value (unique aspect of its features) of
the site
Biogeographical seminar
Stage 2 - criteria in Hab. 97/2 rev. 4 18/11/97
“Pre-selection” phase 20-60% Rule (biogeographical region) – applied
during the seminar.
The habitats/species which occurrence is covered to an extent:
• higher than 60% are considered, in principle, as sufficiently
represented
• lower than 20% are considered, in principle, as insufficiently
represented
• between 20% and 60% are the subject of a case-by-case analysis
For priority, rare, endangered species and habitats lowest required
threshold for coverage in the region is 60%!
Biogeographical seminar
Hab. 97/2 rev. 4 18/11/97
“Case by case "phase (biogeographical region)
• “Priority” criterion - at least one priority habitat or species
• “Uniqueness” criterion - containing the only significant example of a non
priority habitat or species
• “High-quality” criterion - having a high national value for at least one nonpriority habitat or species
• “High-diversity” criterion - containing a significant number of non-priority
habitats and/or species
• “Network coherence” criterion - playing a role to ensure the coherence (as well
structural as functional) of the Natura 2000 Network - migration routes,
ecological corridors, “relic” localisations, cross-border ecosystems, bordering
a major protected area, restoration measures for at least one priority habitat or
species
• “Safeguard clause” criterion – safeguarding sufficient coverage
Biogeographical seminar
The seminar
The seminars discuss
• reference lists per biogeographical regions
• the sufficiency of each species and habitat,
according to the agreed reference lists separately
for each biogeographical region
Biogeographical seminar
Criteria used during the biogeographical seminar
Simplified and reversed criteria of Hab. 97/2 rev. 4 18/11/97 to answer the
question - is the submitted list of pSCIs sufficient?
• “Pre-selection” criterion 20-60% widely used (low coverage)
• Geographical insufficiency/gap – missing sites in certain area with
proven distribution or at the border of natural distribution
• Missing locality – for rare species with few localities
• Missing best/representative locality or several best/representative
localities
• Missing locality/site playing role of stepping stone bio-corridor –
ecological coherence (site should host species permanently in order to
be accepted)
• Not presented important variation (subtype, subspecies)
Biogeographical seminar
Possible decisions on sufficiency – habitats/species review
• SUF (Sufficient) No further sites needed
• IN MAJ (Insufficient major) No sites proposed at present. A major
effort to designate sites is needed.
• IN MOD (Insufficient moderate). One or a number of additional sites
(or maybe extension to sites) required.
• IN MOD GEO - means that additional site(s) are required in certain
region to eliminate geographical gap.
• IN MIN (Insufficient minor) - habitat/species should be noted on sites
already proposed for other habitats/species
• CD (Correction of data) Data needs to be corrected/completed/deleted
• Sci Res (Scientific reserve) A definite conclusion is not possible: need
to investigate/clarify a scientific issue
Biogeographical seminar
Participants
• European Commission
• ETC/BD
• Independent experts invited by the Commission
• National Governments and their experts
• NGOs (through Habitats Forum)
• Observers
Decisions – consensus leaded by the chairmen from the Commission,
input from the ETC/BD and independent experts crucial (lobby them!!)
Biogeographical seminar
NGOs - how to prepare prior seminars
a. Ensure good unofficial cooperation scientists/NGOs (scientists are
not always in a position to say freely everything, but NGOs could be)
b. Establish good communication with the Commission and ETC/BD on
the topic as soon as possible
c. Choose as fast as possible your representatives (knowledgable and
trustable), 1-3 persons for the seminar through consensus
d. Lobby through European Habitats Forum members (WWF-European
Policy Office, CEEWEB, BirdLife) and directly through the
Commission to receive invitation for these persons
e. Prepare alternative NGOs assessments, shadow lists and reports and
distribute them as early as possible
Biogeographical seminar
NGOs - how to prepare prior seminars
a. Make critical analyses of the Governmental proposal
b. Revise reference lists – they should be truly presented in the
biogeographical region/ or missing species/habitats
c. For every or for most important habitat and species from the reference
list:
• make an assessment of coverage and coherence of the official list
• try to propose a shadow list of sites
• prepare a report with maps (shadow list, localities of the species,
habitats etc) and submit it to the secretariat of the convention and the
ETC prior the seminar (as early as possible)
Biogeographical seminar
NGO’s shadow lists – could be a
• Complicated map - containing detailed NATURA 2000 data base and
border of sites (in some countries NGOs developed official proposals)
• Simplified map - polygons (GIS or even GOOGLE EARTH)
accompanied with a simple EXCEL table with a referent list of species
and habitats for each polygon
• Or even a map of localities for particular species and habitats
The shadow list is our demand for enlarging the network – there was no
case in other EU countries NGOs to be satisfied by the Governmental
proposal.
Biogeographical seminar
NGOs assessment of coverage
• Number of localities covered
• % of distribution - simple overlapping with UTM grids
or similar simplified methods
• Maps of distribution
• Deductive models of suitable habitats (for species)
using free GIS layers
2006-2007
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Preparation by NGOs
Mapping species and habitats in 2006 and 2007
• Forest habitats – full forestry inventory (1: 5 000 scale) and assessment
of the type of habitat by modeling of forestry data
• Grasslands – partial inventory and modeling in scale 1:100 000
(CORINE Land Cover based)
• Species – distributional data available for most of the species
(presence/absence) and deductive models of suitable habitats developed
in scale 1:100 000 (problems – old data or scarce data especially for
invertebrates)
In 2007 critical reassessment of all network on systematic basis – on the
base of developed GIS maps!!
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
The documentation prepared by the NGOs in 2008
a. Analyses of coverage made for most of species and habitats
b. A report for 23 species and 9 habitats for which network was
regarded to be insufficient for biogeographical region concerned.
Maps and GIS accompanied every individual report.
c. Reports sent to the ETC in 10 April 2008, 2 months prior to the
seminar – included in the preliminary official analyses of the ETC
d. BG – RO NGO preparation meeting in the end of April 2008.
e. Biogeographical seminars for BG and RO – June 2008. NGO
participation – 3 experts (through European Habitats Forum)
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Continental region - coverage within the
official list of sites: 54.5%
NGO assessment of sufficiency:
Insufficient Moderate
Low coverage: priority habitat with less than 60% coverage in the region.
Geographical coherence: There are no sites in the area of Surnena Sredna Gora Mountain.
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Alpine region - coverage within the
official list of sites: 39%
NGO assessment of sufficiency:
Insufficient Moderate
Low coverage: glacial relict, endangered species
Geographical coherence: There are no sites in the area of Rila Mountain (missing site Rila – buffer).
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Alpine region - coverage within the official list of sites: 67,25%. NGO assessment of sufficiency: Insufficient
Moderate
Justification of the NGO assessment
• Missing sites of high quality: Missing high quality site Rila buffer
• Geographical coherence: Low coverage of the species in Rila Mountain
region – only about 30 % of the population is covered by the submitted
sites. Almost all summer habitats of the species in the Mountain are
outside the protection as these sites are mostly encompassing alpine belt.
• Ecological coherence: Missing site "providing bio-corridor habitats
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Continental and Alpine regions - coverage within the official list of sites: 49%
NGO assessment of sufficiency:
Insufficient Moderate
•
•
Geographical coherence: edge of distribution
of the species along the Struma and Mesta Rivers. Lack of pSCIs in
Surnena Sredna Gora Mountain.
Ecological coherence: stepping stones along river valley of Struma River
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Example of NGO’s BG-RO cross-border analyses (sent to the ETC and Commission in May 2008) – map of sites
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Example of NGO’s BG-RO cross-border analyses (sent to the ETC and Commission in May 2008) – list of
species in cross - border sites
Krajmorska Dobrudzha(130)
Plant
Plant
2125
2253
Plant
Invert
2327
1060
Invert
Invert
Invert
Invert
Invert
1078
1083
1087
1088
1089
4027
Potentilla emilii-popii
Centaurea jankae
Himantoglossum
caprinum
Lycaena dispar
Callimorpha
quadripunctaria
Lucanus cervus
Rosalia alpina
Cerambyx cerdo
Morimus funereus
Arytrura musculus
4033
Erannis ankeraria
1219
1279
1302
Testudo graeca
Elaphe quatuorlineata
Rhinolophus mehelyi
Rhinolophus
ferrumequinum
Rhinolophus euryale
Miniopterus schreibersi
Spermophilus citellus
Mesocricetus newtoni
Mustela eversmannii
Vormela peregusna
Invert
Invert
Amp/Rep
Amp/Rep
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
D
Padurea Hagieni – Cotul Vaii (157)
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+
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+
+
+
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+
+
Missing in the national reference list
1304
1305
1310
1335
2609
2633
2635
Missing in the national reference list
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
Results – despite high % of the network number of moderate and
minor insufficiencies and correction of data, as well as scientific
reserves
State of progress in reaching sufficiency for the Habitat Directive Annex I habitats and Annex II species, June 2008
2008
Biogeographical seminar – Bulgarian case
December 2008
DG Env. - decision for adoption BG sites as SCIs
Thank you for your attention
Andrey Kovatchev
BALKANI Wildlife Society
[email protected]
www.balkani.org