Natura 2000
This layer maps the Natura 2000 network — the European Union's coordinated network of protected sites for rare and threatened species and habitats.
Source: Natura 2000 (European Commission) Year: 2023 Category: Transition risks · Sensitive areas · Protected areas Coverage: Region (European Union) Format: Boundary polygons Used in risk analysis: Yes — gates Sensitive areas
What it shows
This layer maps the Natura 2000 network — the European Union's coordinated network of protected sites for rare and threatened species and habitats. Sites within or near a Natura 2000 area carry elevated nature-related risk because they are formally recognised for their conservation importance, and activities affecting them can trigger regulatory, reputational and ecological concerns.
How it is built
The layer is drawn directly from the official Natura 2000 network. Natura 2000 designates core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, together with some rare natural habitat types, across the 27 EU member states on both land and sea. The network covers roughly 18% of the EU's land area and about 6% of its marine territory. The layer represents these designated sites as polygons suitable for intersecting against site locations.
How to read it
This is a designation layer rather than a graded score. A site that falls within, or close to, a Natura 2000 polygon is flagged as intersecting a protected area of EU conservation importance. The absence of a polygon means no Natura 2000 designation applies at that location. The layer is used for overlap and proximity screening.
Class thresholds
This is a categorical presence / boundary layer, not a continuous physical flux — it carries no measured quantity and therefore no numeric class breaks. The feature it models is designation as a Natura 2000 site (a polygon footprint of an EU-protected area). There is no graded scale and no risk threshold expressed as a number; the "classes" are simply presence versus absence of a designated polygon at a location.
The only sub-division within the layer is the legal basis of each site, carried in the SITETYPE property and surfaced in the proximity label:
| SITETYPE | Designation |
|---|---|
| A | Natura 2000 zone (Birds Directive) |
| B | Natura 2000 zone (Habitats Directive) |
| C | Natura 2000 zone (Birds and Habitats Directives) |
A site is flagged on the Sensitive areas dimension when it overlaps or sits near a Natura 2000 polygon (proximity trigger); this becomes Very material only when the matching ENCORE "Sensitive area disturbance" pressure is also material for the entity. The Darwin configuration does not encode a fixed proximity-buffer distance for this layer, so overlap/closeness is evaluated by the platform's standard sensitive-area screening rather than a layer-specific metre value.
How these thresholds were set. There are no thresholds to set: membership of the layer is determined entirely by the official Natura 2000 designation decided by EU member states under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives, not by any Darwin or third-party numeric classification. The polygons are taken directly from the published network footprint.
Reference: Natura 2000 network — natura2000.fr.
Source
Natura 2000 network (European Union designated protected sites).
Comparison with the WWF Risk Filter Suite
This layer maps to the WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter "Protected/Conserved Areas" theme (BRF S14_1). WWF relies on the global World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA, via UNEP-WCMC/IBAT). Natura 2000 is a regional designation that extends and localises that coverage across the EU, providing the detailed European protected-area footprint that complements WWF's global WDPA-based indicator.
Risk analysis
A site is flagged on a dimension by combining a proximity trigger (this layer) with an activity trigger (the entity's ENCORE pressure/service). Proximity only → Potentially material; proximity and the matching ENCORE pressure/service is material → Very material; neither → Not material.
| Dimension | ENCORE service / pressure | Proximity trigger (this layer) | Activity trigger (entity) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitive areas | Sensitive area disturbance | Site overlaps / is near the feature | impact ratio ≥ 10%; “Disturbances (e.g noise, light)” pressure ≥ 4; “Introduction of invasive species” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of freshwater use” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of seabed use” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of land use” pressure ≥ 4; “Other biotic resource extraction (e.g. fish, timber)” pressure ≥ 4; “Volume of water use” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of non-GHG air pollutants” pressure ≥ 4; “Generation and release of solid waste” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of toxic soil and water pollutants” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of nutrient soil and water pollutants” pressure ≥ 4 |
Generated from darwin/layers/layer-natura-2000.toml and risk_indicator_pairs.toml (develop).