Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. Natura 2000 network is composed of sites designated under the Birds Directive (Special Protection Areas or SPAs) and the Habitats Directive (Sites of Community Importance or SCIs and Special Areas of Conservation or SACs). The European database is generally updated once a year to take into account any updating of national databases by Member States. However, the release of a new EU-wide database does not necessarily mean that a particular national dataset has recently been updated.

The descriptive data in the European database are based on the information that national authorities have submitted, for each of the Natura 2000 sites, through a site-specific standard data form (SDF). In addition to other site-specific information, the standard data form provides the list of all species and habitat types for which a site is officially designated. The spatial data outlines the boundaries of sites as submitted by Member States.

The data submitted by each Member State are validated by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Any problems identified through the validation procedures in the national datasets are brought to the attention of the Member States concerned. However, it remains up to the Member States to decide whether to submit a revised dataset before the European database is updated. The EEA therefore cannot guarantee that all inconsistences detected in national datasets are removed in the European dataset. The 2022 database contains for each site the version proposed by the Member States and approved by the European Commission. The validation process is reflected in the updates of the the biogeographical Union Lists of Sites of Community Importance (SCIs).

Please note that some Member States submit sensitive information that is filtered out of the database. The following Member States have submitted sensitive information: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. This concerns species associated to specific sites. All reference to these species has been removed from the related sites. If sensitive information is necessary to your field of research, please contact the Member State administrations individually.