Natura 2000 Network

The Natura 2000 Network is an ecological network for the European Union’s community space resulting from the application of Council Directive 79/409/EEC, of 2 April 1979 (Birds Directive) – revoked by Directive 2009/147/EC, of 30 November – and Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitats Directive) which aims to ensure the long-term conservation of Europe’s most threatened species and habitats, helping to stop the loss of biodiversity. It is the main instrument for nature conservation in the European Union.

The Natura 2000 Network, which also applies to the marine environment, is composed of:

  • Special Protection Zones (SPA) – established under the Birds Directive, which are essentially intended to guarantee the conservation of bird species and their habitats, listed in attachment I, and of migratory bird species not mentioned in attachment I and whose occurrence is regular;
  • Special Conservation Areas (ZEC) – created under the Habitats Directive, with the express objective of “contributing to ensuring Biodiversity, through the conservation of natural habitats (attachment I) and the habitats of wild flora and fauna species (attachment II), considered threatened within the European Union”.

Conservation policy

In these areas of community importance for the conservation of certain habitats and species, human activities must be compatible with the preservation of these values, aiming at sustainable management from an ecological, economic and social point of view.

Ensuring the pursuit of these objectives necessarily involves an articulation of the nature conservation policy with the other sectoral policies, namely, agroforestry, tourism or public works, in order to find the mechanisms so that the spaces included in the Natura 2000 Network are spaces lived and managed in a sustainable way.

Natura C.M. Águeda

About the Pateira de Fermentelos

The Pateira de Fermentelos, within the scope of the Natura 2000 Network, includes the following classified areas:

  • ZPE – Special Protection Zone ZPE – PTZPE0004 Ria de Aveiro, classified by Council of Ministers Resolution no. 115-A/2008, of 21 July;
  • ZEC – Special Conservation Area – PTCON0061 Ria de Aveiro, classified by Regulatory Decree no. 1/2020, of 16 March;

Habitats present in the Pateira de Fermentelos
1330 – Atlantic and continental salt marshes and meadows (Glauco-Puccinellietalia maritimae)
3150 – Natural eutrophic lakes with vegetation from Magnopotamion or Hydrocharition
91E0* – Alluvial forests of Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (Alno-Padion, Alnion incanae, Salicion albae)

* priority habitat

Creation of ZEC (Regulatory Decree No. 1-2020 of 16 March)
Decree of Law 384-B 99 of September 23