Setting aside protected areas is widely recognized as one of the most effective measures to prevent species from extinction. Accordingly, there has been a tremendous effort by governments worldwide to establish protected areas, resulting in over 100,000 sites, which are set aside, to achieve the 10% target proposed at the Fourth World Park Congress in 1992 in Caracas. The main effort of the Eur...

Background Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of the Protected Area networks on the conservation status of target species. Here, we assess the effectiveness of the Portuguese Natura 2000 (the European Union network of protected areas) in maintaining a species included in the Annex I of the Bird Directive, namely the population of a priority farmland bird, the little bustard Tetrax tetr...

Riparian forests are sensitive habitats with a rich biodiversity and an important function as corridors for movement of wildlife. In Europe, many of these precious habitats are protected sites within the Natura 2000 network, where monitoring results have to be reported every six years. Satellite imagery provides key benefits for monitoring nature protection areas where political borders, rough ...

The participation of stakeholders in the planning of protected natural areas is growing significantly. It enhances their trust in protection aims and management measures. Limited time and finances, however, often reduce the impact of stakeholder participation on the level of information and education, thus usually resulting in insufficient implementation of choices regarding nature conservation...

There is increasing demand for reliable, high-resolution vegetation maps covering large areas. Airborne laser scanning data is available for large areas with high resolution and supports automatic processing, therefore, it is well suited for habitat mapping. Lowland hay meadows are widespread habitat types in European grasslands, and also have one of the highest species richness. The objective ...

The province of Grosseto in the region of Tuscany, Italy, is among the areas in Europe included in the “Rete Natura 2000” (network Natura 2000) EU directive 92/93 CEE “Habitat”, for its peculiar site characteristics. Due to intensive human activities through territorial colonization, it is very difficult to find uncontaminated natural areas. This work analyses the area of Grosseto adopting and ...