Site Designation and Establishment of Conservation Measures
In order to achieve effective protection, the Birds Directive contains measures to protect the habitats and to limit the hunting of, and trading in, bird species. As far as the former is concerned, Article 3 provides that Member States must take the requisite measures to preserve, maintain or re-establish a sufficient diversity and area of habitats for all species of birds covered by the directive. The following measures are specifically mentioned:
- 1. Creation of protected areas
- 2. Upkeep and management in accordance with the ecological needs of habitats inside and outside the protected zones
- 3. Re-establishment of destroyed biotopes
- 4. Creation of biotopes
Like the Birds Directive, the Habitats Directive on the one hand provides for measures to protect conservation areas (Art. 3 to 11), and on the other for measures to protect species (Art. 12 to 16). In this section particular emphasis will be given to the site selection and designation as well as the obligations of establishing special conservation measures according to the provisions of Habitats and Birds Directives.