Descrizione 1
Susanna D’Antoni, Silvia Properzi
In order to assess whether protected areas have been designated based on scientific criteria, including ecologically representative areas (Margules & Pressey, 2000; Maxwell et al., 2020), the overlap between terrestrial protected areas in our country and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA, IUCN, 2016) has been calculated. The protected areas considered include those in the data bank of the Common Database on Designated Areas (CDDA) (now Nationally designated areas of Europe - NatDA), and the Natura 2000 Network. KBAs identify key areas for biodiversity conservation and, according to the European Commission’s guidance document on achieving the 30% target ("Criteria and guidance for protected areas designations," Brussels, 28/1/2022), are among those to be considered for designation as protected areas. The indicator used corresponds to the one adopted internationally to evaluate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 (SO4-3.T1: National estimates of the average proportion of Terrestrial KBAs covered by protected areas in %).
The results indicate that, after accounting for overlaps between CDDA protected areas and Natura 2000 sites, 75.20% of the national terrestrial protected area overlaps with KBAs identified at the national level, demonstrating a fair inclusion of important biodiversity areas.
The SEB 2030 strategy outlines that, to achieve the goal of protecting 30% of national territory, protected areas must be appropriately designated based on scientific criteria and managed with proper conservation measures. SEB 2030 specifies that the most representative biodiversity areas must be identified, including KBAs (IUCN, 2016), recognized as biodiversity hotspots (Maxwell et al., 2020).
This indicator analyzes the terrestrial protected surface in Italy in relation to its overlap with KBAs, as proposed in the European Commission’s guidance document ("Criteria and guidance for protected areas designations," Brussels, 28.1.2022 SWD (2022) 23 final), which suggests KBAs as areas to be included in protected territories to reach the SEB 2030 target of 30% terrestrial protection.
The analysis considers terrestrial protected areas as defined by the "NATIONAL PROTECTED TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE AREA" indicator (2022), which calculates national protected surface coverage, net of overlaps between national protected areas (CDDA) and Natura 2000 sites, with data updates every five years (2011, 2016, 2021). The indicator aligns with international standards for assessing SDG progress (SO4-3.T1: National estimates of the average proportion of Terrestrial KBAs covered by protected areas in %).
To quantify the percentage of terrestrial protected areas overlapping with KBAs, evaluate temporal variations, and assess the extent to which protected natural areas (CDDA and Natura 2000 sites) include key biodiversity areas, as required by SEB 2030.
Directive 79/409/EEC "Birds," later repealed and replaced by 2009/147/EC, which retains its fundamental objectives, transposed into Italian law by Law No. 157 of 11/02/1992.
Directive 92/43/EEC "Habitats," transposed into Italian law by Presidential Decree 357/97, amended and supplemented by Presidential Decree 120/2003.
Framework Law on Protected Areas No. 394/1991 and subsequent amendments.
Official List of Protected Areas (EUAP, VI update, DM 27.04.2010 GU No. 125 of 31.05.2010).
Ministerial Decree 02/12/2010 (Establishment of the State Nature Reserve "Tresero-Dosso del Vallon").
Presidential Decree 28/07/2016 (Establishment of the National Park "Island of Pantelleria").
EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 COM(2020) 380 final, Brussels, 20.5.2020.
National Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (DM 03.08.2023 No.252), transposing SEB2030 objectives.
Descrizione 2
Agnesi S., Annunziatellis A., Chaniotis P., Mo G., Korpinen S., Snoj L., Tunesi L., Reker J., 2020. Spatial Analysis of Marine Protected Area Networks in Europe’s Seas III. ETC/ICM Technical Report 3/2020. https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-icm/products/etc-icm-report-3-2020-spatial-analysis-of-marine-protected-area-networks-in-europe2019s-seas-iii
Agnesi S., Mo G., Annunziatellis A., Chaniotis P., Korpinen S., Snoj L., Globevnik L., Tunesi L., Reker J., 2017. Spatial Analysis of Marine Protected Area Networks in Europe’s Seas II, Vol. A, 2017, ed. Künitzer A., ETC/ICM Technical Report 4/2017, Magdeburg: European Topic Centre on inland, coastal and marine waters, 41 pp. https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-icm/products/etc-icm-reports/spatial-analysis-of-marine-protected-area-networks-in-europe2019s-seas-ii-volume-a-2017
BirdLife International (2022). World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. Developed by the KBA Partnership: BirdLife International, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Global Environment Facility, Global Wildlife Conservation, NatureServe, Rainforest Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. Available at www.keybiodiversityareas.org. [date of download 15/12/2022]
CE, 2020. Strategia dell'UE sulla biodiversità per il 2030. Riportare la natura nella nostra vita. Bruxelles, 20.5.2020, COM(2020) 380 final. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0380&from=EN
D’Antoni S., 2022. Aree protette, un pilastro della conservazione. ECOSCIENZA Numero 2 Anno 2022.
D’Antoni S., Bagnaia R., Augello R., Ceralli D., 2023. Criteri per l’individuazione di aree da sottoporre a tutela per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi della Strategia Europea per la Biodiversità al 2030. Reticula n. 32 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372435384
EEA, 2015. Spatial analysis of Marine Protected Area Networks in Europe´s seas. EEA Technical report, 17/2015. http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/spatial-analysis-of-marine-protected
IUCN (2016) A Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas, Version 1.0. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
IUCN-WCPA Task Force on OECMs, 2019. Recognising and reporting other effective area-based conservation measures. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN: 978-2-8317-2025-8 (PDF). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2019.PATRS.3.en
KBA Standards and Appeals Committee of IUCN SSC/WCPA (2022). Guidelines for using A Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas. Version 1.2. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
KBA Secretariat (2022) Key Biodiversity Areas Proposal Process: Guidance on Proposing, Reviewing, Nominating and Confirming sites. Version 1.1. Cambridge, UK.
MiTE, 2022. Strategia Nazionale per la Biodiversità al 2030. Testo consolidato. Ministero della Transizione Ecologica (MiTE), Direzione Generale Patrimonio Naturalistico e Mare, Divisione III - Strategie della Biodiversità, 25 luglio 2022. https://www.mite.gov.it/sites/default/files/archivio/allegati/biodiversita/nuova_SNB_2030.pdf
Margules C.R. & Pressey R.L., 2000 – Systematic conservation planning. Nature, Vol. 45 p.243-252
Maxwell S.L., Cazalis V., Dudley N., Hoffmann M., Rodrigues A.S.L., Stolton S, Visconti P., Woodley S., Kingston N., Lewis E., Maron M., Strassburg B.B.N., Wenger A., Jonas H.D., Venter O. & Watson J.E.M. 2020. Area-based conservation in the twenty-first Century. Nature, Vol 586 - 8 October 2020 ppag. 217-227 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2773-z
Data processing is done from the CDDA (updated March 2022) and the Natura 2000 database (updated December 2022) provided by Italy to the European Commission (2023). The CDDA, compared to the VIEUAP (Official List of Protected Areas, 2010) has been updated with the protected areas established from 2010 to the present only at the national level (Pantelleria Island National Park, Tresero-Dosso del Vallon State Nature Reserve, Capo Testa-Punta Falcone Marine Protected Area, Capo Milazzo Marine Protected Area), as for the regional protected areas,, we have to wait for the approval of the new EUAP.
To define the trends of change in protected area, the calculation of areas was carried out at 5-year intervals, selecting the protected areas designated in each time interval according to the year of the act of designation. However, any subsequent acts relating to boundary changes are not discernible in this procedure. Therefore, if a site has undergone an expansion or reduction in area over the years, this change is not detected. The same time intervals were used to group KBAs so that the same periods could be compared.
Updating EUAP. Verification of KBA updates. Data entry of OECMs (Other effective area-based conservation measures) if they are identified by the autonomous regions/provinces and MASE. Analysis of protected areas at the autonomous region/province scale.
Qualificazione dati
Italy KBA www.keybiodiversityareas.org.
https://indicatoriambientali.isprambiente.it/
Official List of Protected Areas (EUAP, 2010) published in the Official Gazette.
Common Database on Designated Areas (CDDA) published on the website of the European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/nationally-designated-areas-national-cdda-17)
Natura2000 database published on the MASE website (https://www.mase.gov.it/pagina/rete-natura-2000)
National
2007-2021
Qualificazione indicatore
Geospatial layers for this indicator are derived from BirdLife International’s KBA shapefiles and those used for the ISPRA "NATIONAL PROTECTED TERRESTRIAL AND MARINE AREA" indicator. The analysis distinguishes among terrestrial sites, marine sites, and mixed terrestrial-marine sites, using coastal delineations from ISPRA (SINA) for separation.
KBAs were grouped by their "addedData" column (date of inclusion in the World Database of KBAs) into three categories matching those used for the national protected area indicator (until 2011, 2016, and 2021). For each five-year period, the proportion of terrestrial KBAs overlapping with national protected areas (CDDA + Natura 2000 sites) was calculated as:
KBAprot / KBAtot x 100
The reference system used is the European Terrestrial Reference System 1989 (ETRS_1989_LAEA).
The national terrestrial protected surface coverage, net of CDDA and Natura 2000 overlaps, currently stands at 75.2% of identified KBAs, indicating fair inclusion of key biodiversity areas.
A slight increase in the overlap between protected areas and KBAs has been observed, from 75.04% in 2007-2011 to 75.20% in 2017-2021.
Dati
Tabella 1: Superfici in ettari delle KBA e delle aree protette terrestri (CDDA e Siti Natura 2000 al netto di sovrapposizioni) e loro sovrapposizione espressa in %
Elaborazione ISPRA su dati ISPRA -MASE per Dati Aree protette CDDA e Siti Natura 2000; BirdLife International per KBA
Figura 1: Superfici in ettari delle KBA e delle aree protette terrestri (CDDA e Siti Natura 2000 al netto di sovrapposizioni) e loro sovrapposizione espressa in %
Elaborazioni degli autori, ISPRA - MASE per Dati Aree protette CDDA e Siti Natura 2000; BirdLife International per KBA
The overlap percentage has remained relatively stable across the three five-year periods, varying by just 0.16%. From 2011 to 2021, both KBA surface area and protected territory (CDDA + Natura 2000 sites) increased, along with their overlap percentage (75.04% in 2011, 75.19% in 2016, and 75.20% in 2021).
A case study by D’Antoni et al. (2023) in the Puglia and Basilicata regions confirmed the effectiveness of using KBAs to identify key biodiversity areas, aligning well with ecological value maps. The distribution of KBAs, combined with Natura maps, can highlight protection gaps for future protected area designations or Natura 2000 expansions, contributing to SEB and SNB 2030 goals of protecting 30% of national territory, including representative biodiversity areas.