4. Habitat

This volume reports the data contained in the 3rd Report of the Habitat Directive, for the period 2007-2012, including all the assessments made on the conservation status of the species and habitats of community interest recorded in Italy. The report is freely accessible at the Central Data Repository (http://bd.eionet.europa.eu/activities/Reporting/Article_17); all data are also available on a dedicated website created by ISPRA (www.sinanet.isprambiente.it/Reporting_Dir_Habitat). Italy is particularly rich in biological diversity, both in terms of species and habitats; in fact the country hosts 113 plant species of community interest, 225 animal species, and 132 habitats protected by the Habitat Directive. Considering that the territory of Italy comprises three biogeographical regions (Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean) and the Mediterranean marine region, the number of assessments required by the reporting obligations of the Habitat Directive is particularly high. Italy, together with France, is in fact the European state with the highest number of habitats of community interest, and one of the countries with the highest number of species included in the Directive, together with Greece for what concerns animal species, and Spain and Portugal for plants. The particularly rich biodiversity of Italy, and the particularly high rate of endemism, are partly due to the peculiar history of the country, that has been interested by moderated effects of the quaternary glaciations, and indeed also by the high variety of environments characterising the Italian territory. The very high number of species and habitats of community interest, combined with the particularly severe level of pressures affecting the country – that has one of the highest population densities in Europe – indeed underlines the particular responsibility of Italy in terms of protection of the biodiversity of the European Union, and stresses the importance of ensuring an adequate monitoring of the species and habitats of the country. To prepare the 3rd Report, the Italian Ministry of Environment has promoted an active collaboration among the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, and the main national scientific societies. ISPRA has coordinated the technical and scientific aspects of the task, working in strict coordination with the regional and provincial authorities and the scientific societies. It must be stressed that the Regions and Autonomous Provinces have put in place an extraordinary effort for this reporting, producing 1,940 assessments for the animal species, 358 for the plants, and 1,126 for the habitats. Altogether the regional authorities have produced 2,926 distribution maps. ISPRA has then compiled all this information, integrating additional data provided by the most relevant scientific societies. This work has been carried out in a series of workshops, where all data has been discussed with leading national experts of the different taxonomic groups, that have reviewed all information, compiled updated distribution maps for each individual biogeographical regions, and produced assessments of the conservation status for each species and habitat. Maps and assessments have then been reviewed by the Ministry of Environment in contact with the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, also taking into account the database of the Nature 2000 framework in order to reduce inconsistencies between the two information systems. This complex process enabled the production of 572 reporting formats, 635 distribution and range maps for the species, 291 reporting formats and 262 distribution maps for the habitats. The results of the 3rd report for the Habitat Directive 2007-2012 show positive and negative