Austria’s Protected Species Face Decline

Why this is here: Austria’s report to the EU Commission shows 77 percent of the country’s protected habitat types are not currently in a favorable conservation status.

Austrian authorities report that 81 percent of the country’s assessed protected species are in unfavorable conservation status. The data comes from Austria’s Fauna-Flora-Habitat report to the European Commission, marking Natura 2000 Day—intended to celebrate Europe’s largest network of protected areas. The report also finds that 77 percent of protected habitat types within Austria are not in a healthy condition.

Austria currently designates about 15.4 percent of its land as Natura 2000 areas. This places the nation behind the European Union average for protected land coverage.

Among 27 European countries, Austria ranks 16th in biodiversity. The report does not detail specific reasons for the decline or outline immediate steps for improvement. Further assessment continues to monitor the situation and inform future conservation efforts.