Summary
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- Other policies
Documentation
Indicator: Marine protected area coverage
Indicator name
Tag: MAR004
Indicator abbreviated name
Definition: Percentage of marine waters, by Member State and at EU 27 level, covered by protected areas. This indicator includes both nationally designated protected areas and Natura 2000 sites. It also includes protected areas designated under the Regional Seas Conventions (RSC), namely the Barcelona Convention, HELCOM & OSPAR.
Definition describing what the indicator measures
Unit: % of total protected area on sea
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, Natura 2000 data and those designated under Regional Sea Conventions eliminating double counting of areas where sites are overlapping; 2) topological controls and adjustments, other data quality controls; 3) Marine waters dataset has been harmonized for analysis purposes only. References about these sources are available in the specific dataset's section of this catalogue. The methodology and the procedure used for processing the data and calculating the marine protected areas indicator are available in the EEA indicator page (See “Methodology for indicator calculation": https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/marine-protected-areas-in-europes-seas?activeAccordion=546a7c35-9188-4d23-94ee-005d97c26f2b).
Description of the main methodological steps used to calculate the indicator
Reference: Marine protected areas in Europe's seas - European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/marine-protected-areas-in-europes-seas); Methodology for indicator calculation (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/indicators/marine-protected-areas-in-europes-seas?activeAccordion=546a7c35-9188-4d23-94ee-005d97c26f2b), 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: Due to differences in data resolution, variations in coastline delineations may occur, potentially leading to minor inaccuracies near coastal regions.
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
Tag: NatDA
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: Nationally designated areas for public access (vector data) - May 2024
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: Nationally designated areas - European Environmental Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/datahub/datahubitem-view/f60cec02-6494-4d08-b12d-17a37012cb28), accessed 19 December 2025
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2024-05-31
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: EEA38 (from 2020)
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2023-2024
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 100000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: The dataset contains parts which are restricted by the data providers and not to be made public. EEA does not have permission to distribute some or all sites reported by Estonia, Ireland and Turkey.
License CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA); Estonian Environmental Register 01.01.2021; Land Burgenland, Land Kärnten, Land Niederösterreich, Land Oberösterreich, Land Salzburg, Land Steiermark, Land Tirol, Land Vorarlberg, Stadt Wien aggregated by Austrian Environment Agency.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: No limitations to public access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: Natura 2000
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: Natura 2000 (vector) - version end 2023
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: Natura 2000 data - the European network of protected sites - European Environment Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/datahub/datahubitem-view/6fc8ad2d-195d-40f4-bdec-576e7d1268e4?activeAccordion=1091667%2C1095296), accessed 19 December 2025
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2025-02-21
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: EU27 (from 2020)
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2023-2023
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 100000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: License CC-BY 4.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Copyright holder: Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV).
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: No limitation to public access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: EEA marine assessment areas
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: EEA marine assessment areas - version 3.0, Oct. 2022
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: European Environment Agency, 2022 - EEA marine assessment areas - version 3.0, Oct. 2022, (https://sdi.eea.europa.eu/catalogue/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/a14375b6-13fa-44d2-9e01-f8bee5954dbb) accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2022-10-14
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Medterranean Sea, Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2022-2022
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 100000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: EEA standard re-use policy: unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged (http://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/copyright). Copyright holder: Directorate-General for Environment.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: No limitation to public access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: EEA marine waters for analysis
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: EEA Marine waters for analysis - INTERNAL VERSION, Oct. 2022
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: EEA Marine waters for analysis - European Environmental Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/datahub/datahubitem-view/8586cc6f-6f93-4a19-941d-57f1f6d44bdf?activeAccordion=1083812), accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2022-10-19
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Tabular
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Medterranean Sea, Northeast Atlantic Ocean
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2018-2024
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 100000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: This dataset contains information restricted by the data providers and cannot be made public or re-distributed freely.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: Public access limited according to Article 13(1)(a) of the INSPIRE Directive
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: OSPAR Marine protected areas network
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: OSPAR Marine protected areas network
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: None
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 16/07/2021
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: North-East Atlantic
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2020
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 10000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: OSPAR is committed to making as much information as possible publicly available, consistent with achieving other similarly important goals of public policy. The framework for this is set out in Article 9 of the OSPAR Convention.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: OSPAR data made available for download via the OSPAR Data and Information Management System (ODIMS), are licensed according to Creative Commons Zero.
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs) (2020)
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMIs), 2019 edition, version 2
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: MAPAMED, the database of MArine Protected Areas in the MEDiterranean - SPA/RAC and MedPAN (https://www.mapamed.org/), accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2019-12-31
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: Mediterranean Sea
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2019
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 5000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: None
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: HELCOM MPAs
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: HELCOM MPAs
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: HELCOM MPAs (https://metadata.helcom.fi/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/d27df8c0-de86-4d13-a06d-35a8f50b16fa), accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2022-12-05
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: Baltic Sea
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 2010-2022
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 10000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: Data can be used freely given that the source (HELCOM) is cited.
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: No limitation to public access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Tag: EEA coastline for analysis
Abbreviated designation of the dataset
Dataset name/description: EEA coastline for analysis (polygon) - version 3.0, March 2017
Full name and/or description of the dataset
Reference: EEA coastline for analysis - European Environmental Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/datahub/datahubitem-view/af40333f-9e94-4926-a4f0-0a787f1d2b8f?activeAccordion=), accessed 19 December 2025.
Reference sources describing the dataset
Date: 2017-03-01
Release date of the dataset in the format yyyy-mm-dd
Format: Vector
Format of the dataset (e.g. tabular, raster, vector, or other)
Spatial coverage: EEA38 (from 2020)
Geographic area covered by the dataset
Temporal coverage: 1995-2017
Time coverage of the dataset from first to most recent available year
Resolution: None
Resolution of the dataset
Scale: 100000
Scale of the dataset
Storage
Webpage link where the dataset can be downloaded
Licence of use: License CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).
Licensing information related to the dataset
Access data policy: No limitations to public access
Description of the access data policy of the dataset
Values
| Country | Value |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 38.1 |
| Bulgaria | 8.1 |
| Cyprus | 8.7 |
| Germany | 45.5 |
| Denmark | 23.9 |
| Estonia | 19.5 |
| Greece | 20.1 |
| Spain | 18.4 |
| Finland | 11.5 |
| France | 45.4 |
| Croatia | 9.8 |
| Ireland | 2.3 |
| Italy | 10.0 |
| Lithuania | 23.0 |
| Latvia | 15.9 |
| Malta | 5.5 |
| Netherlands | 31.6 |
| Poland | 22.0 |
| Portugal | 4.5 |
| Romania | 21.5 |
| Sweden | 16.3 |
| Slovenia | 5.4 |