Article 17 Habitats Directive Report 2019
Every six years, all EU Member States are required to report on the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive (under Article 17). The 2019 UK report was submitted during the period when the UK was an EU Member State.
What is the Article 17 Report?
All EU Member States are required to report on the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive (under Article 17) every six years. The report provides information on the conservation status of habitats and species listed in Annexes I, II, IV and V of the Directive. The fourth UK report was submitted to the EU in August 2019, and covers the implementation period 2013–2018. Previous reports can be found on The National Archives website.
The UK report covers habitats and species that occur in: (i) metropolitan UK (within the Atlantic biogeographic region (terrestrial/coastal features) and the Marine Atlantic region (marine features)); and (ii) Gibraltar (within the Mediterranean biogeographic region (terrestrial/coastal features) and the Mediterranean Marine region (marine features)). The Government of Gibraltar provides the report on the habitats and species within its territory.
The Article 17 report to the EU consists of a General Implementation Report (the 'Annex A' report), and individual habitat and species assessments of Conservation Status. For the 2019 report, in metropolitan UK there are 170 Conservation Status Assessments, including 77 habitats and 93 regularly occurring species. There are also short reports on 33 vagrant species, mainly bats and cetaceans. In Gibraltar, there are 25 Conservation Status assessments, including ten habitats and 15 regularly occurring species. There are short reports on six vagrant species.
For the metropolitan UK reports, the underpinning information used in the assessments covers England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and UK offshore waters, as appropriate, depending on the distribution of each habitat and species. This information was compiled by JNCC with the relevant country nature conservation bodies (CNCBs) on behalf of UK government and the devolved administrations. A UK Approach document outlines how UK assessments have been undertaken.
General Implementation Report
The General Implementation Report (Annex A) provides wider contextual information on a Member State's implementation of the Habitats Directive during the implementation period. The UK's 2019 Annex A (which covers both metropolitan UK and Gibraltar) provides information under the following headings:
- Main achievements;
- Links to information sources;
- Natura 2000 site designation;
- Comprehensive management plans for Natura 2000 sites;
- Measures taken in relation to approval of plans and projects;
- Measures taken to ensure coherence of the Natura 2000 Network; and
- Reintroduction of Annex IV species.
A copy of the UK's General Implementation Report (Annex A), and accompanying appendices is available on JNCC's Resource Hub.
Habitat and Species Conservation Status Assessments
The Fourth UK Habitats Directive Report considered the conservation status of all terrestrial and marine habitats listed under Annex I of the Directive, and all terrestrial and marine species listed under Annexes II, IV and V of the Directive, that were present in the UK during the reporting period.
For metropolitan UK, there are 170 UK assessments of Conservation Status, including 77 habitats and 93 regularly occurring species. There are also short reports on 33 vagrant species, mainly bats and cetaceans.
To view the metropolitan UK conservation status assessments, go to:
- Article 17 UK Habitats Directive Report 2019: Habitat Conservation Status Assessments.
- Article 17 UK Habitats Directive Report 2019: Species Conservation Status Assessments.
For Gibraltar there are 25 Conservation Status assessments, including ten habitats and 15 regularly occurring species. There are short reports on six vagrant species.
For information on Gibraltar conservation status assessments, please contact stephen.warr@gibraltar.gov.gi
Habitat Conservation Status Assessments 2019
The Fourth UK Habitats Directive Report considered the conservation status of all terrestrial and marine habitats listed under Annex I of the Directive that were present within the UK during the reporting period.
For the UK this included:
- 69 terrestrial habitats within the UK Atlantic biogeographic region;
- Eight marine habitats within the UK Marine Atlantic region;
For the UK details, go to: Article 17 UK Habitats Directive Report 2019 (Habitats).
For Gibraltar this included:
- Eight terrestrial habitats within the Gibraltar Mediterranean biogeographic region;
- Two marine habitats within the Gibraltar Marine Mediterranean region.
For information on Gibraltar conservation status assessments, please contact stephen.warr@gibraltar.gov.gi
Species Conservation Status Assessments 2019
The fourth UK Habitats Directive Report considered the conservation status of all terrestrial and marine species listed under Annexes II, IV and V of the Directive that were present within the UK during the reporting period.
For the UK this included:
- 77 terrestrial species within the UK Atlantic biogeographic region;
- 16 marine species within the UK Marine Atlantic region;
There are short reports on 33 vagrant species, mainly bats and cetaceans.
For the UK details, go to: Article 17 UK Habitats Directive Report 2019 (Species).
For Gibraltar this included:
- Three terrestrial species within Gibraltar Mediterranean biogeographic region;
- 12 marine species within the Gibraltar Marine Mediterranean region.
There are short reports on six vagrant species.
For information on Gibraltar conservation status assessments, please contact stephen.warr@gibraltar.gov.gi
Summary of UK Conservation Status and Trends in 2019
Summary of the conclusions and qualifiers reached for each habitat and species included in the Fourth UK Habitats Directive Report.
Details of the approach taken to reach the conclusions and qualifiers are provided in the UK Approach document.
A summary comparison of 2019 assessment conclusions with those in the previous reporting rounds is included in the UK Summary Spreadsheet. This can be found, along with the tables of the reported information by species and by habitat, on JNCC's Resource hub.
Additional information
As part of the 2019 UK Habitats Directive Report, the UK submitted a set of habitat and species distribution maps to the EU. This information was provided in the form of GIS shapefiles and can be found on JNCC's Resource Hub.
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