Preliminary Search Areas Conservation Targets Natura 2000 Version 2

The preliminary search areas consist, on the one hand, of the search zones sensu stricto and, on the other, of the parcels under appropriate management. The search areas sensu strictly indicate, for each European habitat to be protected, the perimeter protected in order to optimise the conservation objectives of the special protection area concerned. According to the legal framework, the search areas will be part of the guidance maps which are part of the Natura 2000 management plans. The search areas are evolving with each new version of the Natura 2000 management plan. These search areas must be regarded as established and are not negotiable in the application of the appropriate assessment. Currently, no Natura 2000 management plans have been adopted by the Flemish Government. As the search areas are an important tool and tool for achieving the conservation objectives, provisional search areas are being worked on pending the Natura2000 management plans. These were drawn up by habitat type or cluster of habitat types. The current version replaces the first map with provisional search areas as distributed in early 2015. It was largely generated using the so-called search zone model. This model was commissioned by the ANB by VITO and INBO and is based on the SpaceModel Flanders (VITO) (L. Poelmans et al., 2015, Search zone model: Technical Description, VITO, Note for ANB Policy; https://www.ruimtemodel.vlaanderen/references/). As a result, the map for these habitat types is constructed on the basis of a grid map with cells of 100x100 m (1 ha) cut to the boundaries of the SPA-H (2013 version). For another set of habitats (non-model controlled habitats), the search zones are determined by the method of the first preliminary search zones. Its largest areas concern habitats in the coastal region and in the Polders. These search areas were registered on the basis of the habitat map (2013 version) and on the basis of geographical, biotic and abiotic factors. The parcels under appropriate management include the parcels with an approved nature management plan (or similar plans or similar agreements or effective management) of the Agency for Nature and Forests, other public authorities and the recognised land management associations (Natuurpunt, vzw Durme, Limburgs Landschap), where a habitat type is set as the objective. It is the sites where conservation objectives for European habitats to be protected have already been placed spatially. This was done by translating the target images from the nature management plans into European protection based on the data from the management plan and geographical, biotic and abiotic factors. The parcels under appropriate management, like the search zones sensu strictly, are cut at the boundaries of the SPA-H.