ETC/BD Report 6/2018: Investigating the contribution of the potential “umbrella effect” of Nationally Designated Areas (CDDA sites) for European plant biodiversity

01 Jun 2018

Iulian Petchesi


This report sets out the results of a short study to investigate the potential contribution (“umbrella effect”) of the European-wide network of Nationally Designated Areas (CDDA sites) in relation to plant hotspots. The methodology is based on that used in the report How much Biodiversity is in Natura 2000? The "Umbrella Effect" of the European Natura 2000 protected area network (Sluis, et al. 2016). As was the case for the Natura 2000 study, it concludes that there is a noticeable positive impact on plant biodiversity provided by CDDA sites and that a ‘buffer’ effect can be seen around the sites that is (at least partly) related to the quality of the surrounding landscape. There is a brief discussion of the results, including some potential policy implications.

Prepared by: Lawrence Jones-Walters and Stephan Hennekens (from ETC/BD partner Wageningen Environmental Research, NL)