**4.2 Applications of the indicator system**

366 Ecosystems Biodiversity

Commission on 21 May, 1992. Each Member State then had the job of accepting and implementing this Community Normative. The man aim of the Directive is to promote the protection of biodiversity through the conservation of the natural habitats and of the wild flora and the fauna of the European territory of the signing Member States, taking into

 A SCI (Site of Community Importance) is a site that contributes in a significant way to the maintenance or restoration of a type of natural habitat (Attached I) or a species

 A SAC (Special Area of Conservation) is a site of Community importance designated by the Member States through an administrative Act where conservation measures are applied that are necessary for the maintenance or restoration in a satisfactory state of conservation of the natural habitats and/or populations of species for which the site is

Each Member State identified the sites in their own territory that are fundamental for the conservation of the species and habitats of Community interest and proposed to the European Commission their own list of pSCIs (as stated in Article 4 of the Directive). On the basis of this list, the Commission drew up the list of SCIs. Within six years from the

Instead, the SPAs (Special Protection Areas) were created according to the Bird Directive (79/409/EEC), with the aim of protecting in a rigorous way the sites in which ornithological

The combination of the SCIs (which will anyway become a SACs according to the procedure indicated above) and the SPAs form the European ecological network known as Natura 2000 and defined in Article 3 of the Habitat Directive. The Natura 2000 Network is a combination of sites characterised by the presence of habitats and species of both animals and plants that are of Community interest (indicated in attachments I and II of the Directive), the function of which is to guarantee the long-term survival of the biodiversity, in all of its components, present on the European continent, recognising the interdependence of the biotic, abiotic

Article 6 of the Directive defines the management of the sites of Natura 2000 (including the ZSPs). The obligation derived from the Directive is that of adopting opportune measures to

The instrument of implementation of the Habitat Directive within the SCIs and SPAs is represented by the management plan. The Habitat Directive assumes great importance in the rural environment because with a large part of the sites identified by the Member States there are agricultural territories that are more or less extensive. These areas are often identifiable as HNV Farmland Areas, in which the presence of man and of agro-forestrypastural activities have favoured the creation of a mosaic of environments, which are characterised by a high level of biological variety. Within these areas, the protection of the traditional cultural systems based on extensive agricultural techniques should be favoured. These considerations must be examined and evaluated carefully at the moment of the

2. The degradation of the habitats of the species for which the zones were designated. 3. The disturbing of the species for which the zones were designated where this can have

declaration of an SCI, a specific area is declared an SAC by the Member State.

species live, as contained in attachment I of the same Directive.

1. The degradation of the habitats of Attachment I.

negative effects on their conservation.

drawing up of the management plans.

account also the economic, social, cultural and regional needs. In Article 1, the significance of the SCI and SAC were defined:

(Attached II) in a satisfactory state of conservation.

designated.

and anthropic elements.

avoid the following:

As already illustrated, the analysis and evaluation system described in this study allows the acquisition of numerical data starting from qualitative information of the description of the ecological characteristics of every single phytocoenosis. The integration of these data with those obtained by the cartographic procedures then allows a measurement to be provided of the level of conservation of entire territories, which can also be operated on different scales of investigation. The model is well suited to be used as a means of decisional support in the politico-administrative and management fields, and it has numerous other potential applications, many of which can be applied to the legislative instruments illustrated above, which can be synthetically summarised as follows:


In conclusion, it can be stated that the realisation of such a system of investigation on a large scale will represent an excellent tool for the acquisition of useful data for the planning and implementation of management practices that are functional for the protection of the residual habitats of greatest value present in the agroecosystem.
