European Commission
EU Biodiversity Strategy Dashboard

Summary

Terrestrial protected area coverage
This indicator measures the percentage of land, by Member State and at EU 27 level, covered by protected areas. It considers both nationally protected areas and Natura 2000 sites. Values are calculated and provided every year by the European Environment Agency based on Member States reports.
  • Source last updated on: 17-12-2025
  • Up to date Checked weekly
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Documentation

Indicator: Terrestrial protected area coverage
Indicator name

Tag: SEBI007
Indicator abbreviated name

Definition: Percentage of land, by Member State and at EU27 level, covered by protected areas. This indicator considers both nationally designated protected areas and the areas of Natura 2000 sites. Their overlaps, reported once, are also included.
Definition describing what the indicator measures

Unit: % of total protected area on land
Measurement unit of the indicator values

Spatial coverage: EU (current composition, only continental areas and Macaronesia)
Geographic area covered by the indicator

Temporal coverage: 2016-2023
Time coverage of the indicator from first to most recent available year

Update frequency: Every year
Frequency at which indicator is updated

DPSIR: Response
DPSIR classification framework: Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, or Response

Method: 1) Calculation of surface from the Nationally designated protected areas and Natura 2000 data eliminating double counting of areas where sites are overlapping; 2) topological controls and adjustments, other data quality controls; 3) Member States territories are taken from "EuroBoundaryMap 2020" dataset. References about these sources are available in the specific dataset's section of this catalogue.
Description of the main methodological steps used to calculate the indicator

Reference: Terrestrial protected areas in Europe - European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/terrestrial-protected-areas-in-europe), accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the indicator and method to calculate it (e.g. peer-reviewed articles, scientific/technical reports, webpages, other)

Producer: European Environment Agency
Institution which produces the calculation of the indicator values

Provider: European Environment Agency
Institution supplying the indicator values, even if not the original producer of indicator values

Open source: False
Indicates whether calculation code is openly available

Spatial scope (Member States): True
Whether the indicator is available at Member States level

Spatial scope (EU27): True
Whether the indicator is available at EU27 aggregated level

Spatial scope (global): False
Whether the indicator is available at global level

Accuracy uncertainties: None
Comment on data accuracy, limitations, and uncertainty

Comments: None
Additional remarks

Storage: None
Webpage link containing the code and/or detailed description of the workflow to calculate the indicator

Copyright/Licence of use: See EEA Copyright/Licence Policy: https://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/. The data are provided by EEA based on data reported by the countries.
Copyright or licensing information related to the indicator

Datasets

Values

Indicator values per country
Country Value
Austria 29.3
Belgium 15.5
Bulgaria 44.2
Cyprus 37.5
Czechia 21.9
Germany 39.1
Denmark 15.4
Estonia 21.3
Greece 34.6
Spain 28.1
Finland 13.4
France 28.3
Croatia 38.2
Hungary 22.2
Ireland 13.9
Italy 21.4
Lithuania 17.9
Luxembourg 38.6
Latvia 18.4
Malta 28.7
Netherlands 26.5
Poland 39.6
Portugal 22.6
Romania 23.5
Sweden 15.3
Slovenia 40.5
Slovakia 37.4

Graphs