1.3.2 The collective EU process and criteria for site
selection
The process that Member States and the Commission must follow
in drawing up the list of Sites of Community Importance is set out
in Article 4 and Annex III of the Directive. The process is broken
down into two stages:
Stage 1: assessment of the relative importance of sites containing
examples of the individual Annex I habitat types and Annex II
species in each Member State;
Stage 2: assessment of the overall importance of the sites in the
context of the appropriate biogeographical region and the EU as a
whole. This stage is often informally referred to as
'moderation'.
The criteria to be employed in Stage 1 are listed in Annex III.
They can be summarised as:
Habitats
a. degree of representativity;
b. area;
c. degree of conservation of habitat structure and functions and
restoration possibilities;
d. global assessment of conservation value (i.e. an overall
assessment, based on a-c above).
Species
a. population size and density;
b. degree of conservation of the features of the habitat that are
important for the species, and restoration possibilities;
c. degree of isolation of the population in relation to the
species' natural range;
d. global assessment of conservation value (i.e. an overall
assessment, based on a-c above).
In addition, Member States are required to classify sites on
their national lists according to their relative value for each
habitat type and species, and to identify which of the sites in
their national lists are selected for priority habitat types and
species.
Further guidance on the assessment of the Annex III Stage 1
criteria is given in the EC guidance document for the Natura 2000
Standard Data Form (European Commission DGXI 1995).
The criteria used in Stage 2 are intended to be used to assess the
sites at the level of the nine biogeographical regions and the EU
as a whole. The Stage 2 criteria may be summarised as:
a. relative value of the site at national
level;
b. relationship of the site to migration routes or its role as part
of an ecosystem on both sides of one or more Community
frontiers;
c. total area of the site;
d. number of Annex I habitat types and Annex II species
present;
e. global ecological value of the site at the level of the
biogeographical region and/or EU as a whole.
The Stage 1 and Stage 2 criteria must be read alongside other
site selection requirements or qualifications set out in the
Directive. More specific requirements for site selection
include:
a. restrictions on the site selection
obligations in respect of widely dispersed and aquatic species
(Article 4.1);
b. the requirement to contribute towards the maintenance of
favourable conservation status3
(Article 2.2 and Article 3.1);
c. the obligation on each Member State to select a series of sites
that reflects the proportion of the EU resource of a given habitat
or species within their national territory (Article 3.2).
3See Article 1(e) and 1(i)
for definitions of favourable conservation status.