Discover Natura 2000, the European Union’s network of protected areas: from science to implementation

The EU’s Natura 2000 Network protects is comprised of nearly 27 000 sites, protecting over 2 000 species and habitats of European conservation concern. It is the largest co-ordinated network of protected areas in the world. It is the product of years of dedicated work and cooperation of a large number of public and private authorities, as well as different stakeholder groups and individuals at European, national and local levels. We will share the experiences of speakers from different backgrounds, who will explain how the Network was created and progressively built, how it is managed and how its protection standards are achieved. We will highlight the qualities that make the Natura 2000 experience unique and successful. Our panellists will debate the transferability of good practices and options for their scaling up, the challenges the Network still faces and the critical role that it and other protected areas have to play in the EU and global ambitions for biodiversity up to 2030.