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Conservation on the blink: Deficient technical reports threaten conservation in the Natura 2000 network

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dc.contributor.authorAltamirano, Adison
dc.contributor.authorField, Richard
dc.contributor.authorJones, Gareth
dc.contributor.authorLisón Gil, Fulgencio
dc.contributor.departmentEcología e Hidrología
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-23T10:05:17Z
dc.date.available2026-02-23T10:05:17Z
dc.date.copyright© 2017 Elsevier Ltd.
dc.date.issued2017-02-10
dc.description.abstractGlobally, laws define both where protected areas are and their level of protection. Usually, the legal protection is not absolute and alternative land-uses can be implemented if perceived gains outweigh conservation losses. Technical reports, describing the importance of each protected area, are therefore crucial for decision-making, impact assessments, mitigation policies and management plans, and thus effective conservation. While much research has focused on protected areas themselves, including the biodiversity they contain and the impact of illegal activities, almost no research has evaluated the adequacy of the technical reports. Given high levels of data availability, the European Natura 2000 network (N2000) might be expected to represent best practice. Here we compare known bat presences with records from Standard Data Forms (SDFs) of Spanish N2000 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC); the Habitats Directive protects all European bat species. Across 1206 SACs, we found far fewer bat species listed in the SDFs than are known to occur in the SACs they represent, for both Annex II and particularly Annex IV bat species. These findings have serious conservation implications, including that decisions are systematically biased against conservation outcomes: if SDFs greatly underestimate the conservation value of their SACs, development of the land (or sea) is much more likely to be permitted. Incorporating known species presences into the SDFs of SACs is low in cost and straightforward, and can potentially achieve tremendous conservation benefits for minimal outlay; it should therefore be a top conservation priority globally, and conservation scientists should urgently engage with government agencies, accordingly.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.format.extent6
dc.identifier.citationBiological Conservation 209 (2017) 11–16
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.02.003
dc.identifier.eissn1873-2917
dc.identifier.issn0006-3207
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10201/210301
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation Was supported by a fellowship (Programa MECE Educación Superior, Project FRO1555) from the Chilean Ministry of Education and postdoctoral fellowship (Programa de Formación de Investigadores Postdoctorales, Ord. Nº001/VRIP) from Universidad de La Frontera, Chile.
dc.relation.publisherversionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320717301921?via%3Dihub
dc.rights.accessRightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.subjectChiroptera
dc.subjectHabitats Directive 92/43/EEC
dc.subjectManagement policies
dc.subjectSpain
dc.subjectSpecial Areas of Conservation
dc.subject.odsObjetivo 15: Bosques, desertificación y diversidad biológica
dc.titleConservation on the blink: Deficient technical reports threaten conservation in the Natura 2000 network
dc.typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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relation.isAuthorOfPublication0b4de71a-8f98-4c44-8d89-98f5288f6953
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery0b4de71a-8f98-4c44-8d89-98f5288f6953
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