Protected species

Marine mammals and fish

The German marine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is home to seven marine mammal species and six species of fish listed in Annex II to the Habitats Directive. Of the marine mammals, only harbour porpoise, grey seals and common seals are found in large enough numbers to be relevant to the nomination of protected areas in German waters.

Germany has special responsibility for these three species of Community interest. Action must be taken in protected areas, in keeping with the ecological needs of these species, in order to maintain them at or restore them to favourable conservation status (Article 3 of the Habitats Directive).

What this entails is set out in Article 1 of the Habitats Directive and can be summarised as follows:

• The natural range of the species must be maintained.
• There must be a sufficiently large habitat to maintain the species’ populations on a long-term basis.
• Sites essential to the life and reproduction of the species must be protected.
• Such sites must be protected from further negative impacts of human activity.

These requirements are met by setting up Natura 2000 protected areas for the species and taking appropriate statutory, administrative or contractual measures for those areas. Such measures are laid down in Article 6 of the Directive: Each member state must establish conservation and development measures while avoiding any deterioration in the conservation status of species and preventing disturbance to individuals. The Directive also requires that any plans or projects likely to affect a site (for example for sand or gravel extraction) must be assessed for their implications, and lays down a procedure for compensatory measures to mitigate any impacts that ensue.

Bird Species
under the Birds Directive

Scientists have identified 25 particularly important bird species in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea EEZ for which special protected areas (SPAs) under the EU Birds Directive must be marked out and designated in the two seas. The birds – mostly divers, grebes, sea ducks and terns – use the open sea mainly as a feeding and resting area and partly as a moulting area. The Birds Directive applies to the conservation of all species of birds naturally occurring in the wild state in the European territory of EU member states. It requires member states to identify the territories best suited in number and size for the conservation of species listed in its Annex I and to classify those territories as special protection areas. Member states must also avoid pollution or deterioration of habitats both inside and outside those areas, whether or not there is a specific threat to the species concerned. Similar measures must also be taken for regularly occurring migratory species with regard to their breeding, moulting and wintering areas and to staging posts along their migration routes (Article 4 (2) of the Birds Directive). Special protection areas designated under the Birds Directive form part of the Natura 2000 network and are subject to the conservation requirements laid down in the Habitats Directive.