The authority also proposes that 15 already decided areas be expanded to protect birds in marine environments.
“Many bird species that depend on marine environments are threatened today. We hope that this proposal can contribute to reversing this negative trend,” says Claes Svedlindh, head of the Department of Nature at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, in a press release.
According to the EU Commission’s evaluation, Sweden’s Natura 2000 network – a network of areas that provide protection for particularly threatened bird species and that require a special permit for measures that threaten these species in particular – is not sufficiently developed for birds in marine areas.
“If the government decides that all the proposed areas should become Natura 2000 areas, a further 3.3 percent of Sweden’s total sea area would receive formal protection. This would bring Sweden significantly closer to the environmental goal of protection for marine environments,” says Claes Svedlindh.