Description
Such a vision is present in the two Community Directives 92/43/EEC 'Habitats' and 79/409/EEC 'Birds', which are the main innovative instruments of nature conservation and biodiversity legislation, leading to the establishment of Natura 2000.
In them, the importance of a vision of biodiversity protection through a broad geographical scale approach is grasped.
Italy, like every other Member State, has incorporated the contents of the directives into its own legislation with its own measures. The Autonomous Province of Trento has in turn regulated the matter with its own legislation.
Who decided the composition of the network?
The identification of the sites to be proposed was carried out in Italy by the individual Regions and Autonomous Provinces in a centrally coordinated process, in compliance with the criteria established by the European directives and on the basis of available scientific knowledge.
The first inventory of sites with suitable characteristics for inclusion in the network was carried out in 1995 and triggered a research process aimed at improving naturalistic knowledge on the territory, which continues today.
A database on the ascertained presence of habitats and species in the sites has been set up and is continually updated, habitat maps have been produced, and publications and scientific and popular contributions have been produced.
The creation of the network, which is primarily based on scientific information, has thus enabled the first major effort to standardise the collection of naturalistic knowledge, aimed at the conservation of biodiversity in Europe.
