Special Areas of Conservation (NATURA 2000)

Information on NATURA 2000 territories is significant to ensure protection of rare and endangered plant and animal species and their habitats (biotopes) in Europe.

National Development Plan for 2021-2027 approved by the decision of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia of 2 July 2020 No. 418/Lm13 goal for the share of​Special areas of conservation (% of the total area of LV) is 18.2 %.

Sustainable Development Strategy of Latvia for 2030 goal for the share of​Special areas of conservation (% of the total area of LV) is 18.0 %.

In turn, according to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 one of the goals is to legally protect at least 30 % of the EU’s land area and 30 % of its sea area, and integrate ecological corridors as part of a Trans-European Nature Network.

N/A

All protected natural areas.

• Law ‘Special Areas of Conservation’;
• Council Directive 92/43/EEC ‘On the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora’;
• Council Directive 2009/147/EC ‘On the Conservation of Wild Birds’.

The data are published on the Official statistics portal in xls file format.

Information on other EU countries On Natura 2000 interactive map.

Special Areas of Conservation of European importance (Natura 2000) in other EU countries: Natura 2000 data and maps.

Statistics on Natura 2000 Areas in other EU countries (time series from 2011) in Eurostat database.

In Official statistics portal the data is available for the period since 2018.

When calculating special areas of conservation and their share, the land area is the entire territory of Latvia including inland waters. For example, in population density estimates, land area excludes inland waters (rivers, lakes and other water bodies).

The Nature Conservation Agency carries out the assessment of the condition of specially protected species and specially protected habitats and prepares information to the public and the European Commission regarding the Special Areas of Conservation of European importance (Natura 2000).

In order to ensure the Council Directive 92/44/EEC ‘On the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora’ and the Council Directive 2009/147/EEC ‘On the Conservation of Wild Birds’, on the basis of the existing Special Areas of Conservation a network of Special Areas of Conservation of European importance (Natura 2000 territories) has been created. At the moment the network includes different Special Areas of Conservation (4 national parks, 4 nature reserves, 7 marine protected areas, 9 protected landscape areas, 261 nature reserves and 42 nature parks, as well as 324 nature monuments and 24 micro-reserves).

The Nature Conservation Agency registers and updates the information in the Nature Data Management System in accordance with the Cabinet Regulation No. 293 of 9 June 2014 ‘Procedures for the Maintenance, Data Updating, and Information Circulation of the Nature Data Management System’ and other regulatory acts in the field of nature protection in accordance with its competence, for example, regulatory acts, which determine the boundaries and functional zones of the protected areas, or decisions on the establishment of micro-reserves. 

Special Areas of Conservation established in accordance with the procedure laid down in the legislation of Latvia correspond to one of the eight categories of areas of conservation – national park, biosphere reserve, nature park, protected landscape area, nature reserve, strict nature reserve, nature monument, marine protected area, which differ in the purpose of their creation, territorial size, and level of protection.

Larger protected natural areas may have a zone which, based on the permitted and prohibited activities, corresponds to one of the aforementioned categories.

In protected natural areas, intensively managed sites (such as cities and villages) as well as roads and their right-of-way are often included in the neutral zone – that is, an area where there are no restrictions on economic activities.

At the same time, different types of protected natural areas can spatially overlap – for example, a designated nature reserve may be located within a protected landscape area, and within that reserve, there may be a specific territory designated for protected geological and geomorphological nature monuments. Accordingly, the data indicates (no overlap / without overlapping).