Protected areas
Last update of indicator 20.12.2021
Indicator definition
It also describes the overview of the European system of protected areas Natura 2000 in SR – Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) (number, acreage, % of the SR area).
Related policy documents and targets
Greener Slovakia - The Strategy for Environmental Policy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 (Envirostrategy 2030) (2019)
2.3 Simplify the system and adhere to thenon-intervention in areas with the highest degree of protection
- The system of protected areas and particular degrees of protection throughout the entire area of Slovakia will be re-evaluated
- In regards to national parks, the re-evaluation will take place until 2024 the latest. The core zone will be formed by non-interference areas whose area will reach 50% of the total area of each national park by 2025 and 75% of the total area by 2030. In national parks where the subject of protection requires human management the non-interference area can be less than 50% of the national park area.
- The best preserved natural biotopes without the need for active management will remain, or will be included in, the so-called non-interference areas.
- Based on the needs of protected biotopes or species, small scale areas will be included among the non-interference areas, or they will be included among actively protected areas, or they will be split.
- In the long term it is necessary to sort out the question of ownership in protected areas and gradually transfer as large an area as possible into the ownership of the state via exchanges, buy-outs, long-term lease, or contractual management and, if appropriate, in terms of state-owned land also via delimitation of competencies
The updated National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy up to 2020 (2014)
Area A: Nature protection
An action plan for implementation of measures resulting from the updated National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy up to 2020 (2014)
Objective A.1
Proposed tasks:
1. To complete the national list of Sites of Community Importance (SCI) pursuant to the requirements of the European Commission for designated habitats and species of European interest
2. To ensure the declaring of those SCIs, which do not have adequate protection
5. To implement approved LIFE projects aimed at protected species and protected areas
Measure A.1.2 To ensure the integrated management of important areas based on an ecosystem approach through the development and implementation of care programmes and their integration into sectoral concepts and strategies
Proposed tasks:
12. To ensure processing and implementation of care programmes and conservation programs of protected areas, and particularly those included in the Natura 2000, and sites of international importance, including caves (Subterranean habitats)
14. To ensure the implementation of management measures in protected areas during the period up to the approval of the their care programmes
15. To provide compensation for the limitation of common management – the transfer of protected areas with the 5th level of protection and selected areas with a lower level of protection to the ownership of state (purchase and exchange of lands), lease, contractual care
Measure A.1.3 To ensure implementation of international standards in nature conservation and effective management and financing of protected areas
Proposed tasks:
21. To establish evaluation and categorization of protected areas according to international standards IUCN and regular reporting
24. To establish the monitoring of effectiveness of care for protected areas into the annual planning and evaluation of the task fulfilment
Key question
What is the state and trend in the national network of protected areas (PA) and the European network Natura 2000?Key messages
- The share of the so-called ”large-size" PA (protected landscape areas – PLA, national parks – NP and BZ NP – buffer zones of national parks) in the total area of Slovakia represents 22.49%. The area of the ”small-size“ PA (SSPA) has been relatively stabilized recently (2.42% as of 2020). The total area of particularly protected parts of nature (the 2nd to the 5th protection level) as of 2020 was 1,147,582 ha (without mutual overlaps) and constitutes 23.4% of the territory of Slovakia. Most these territories belong to the lower protection category, while they are sufficiently large for providing home to viable populations of carnivores.
- In 2020, 2 Management Program (MPs) were approved for 2 SPAs and a total of 93 Management Programs have now been approved for SSPA, most of which are also SCIs.
- In the European network of PA Natura 2000, as of 2020, all 41 special protection areas (SPAs) are declared with the total area of 1,282,811 ha (26.2% of the SR territory), 20 of which have an approved management program and the process of refining the expert proposals for the rest is underway.
- Within the Sites of Community Importance, selected habitats (Foothill hay meadows, Euro-Siberian steppic woods with Quercus spp) were mapped in 2020 and new sites were proposed for them, as well as for some species, especially fish. The process of declaring protected areas continued – 10 PAs were declared, which included the declaration of 12 SCIs (SKSCI). Work has also started on the preparation of a consolidated version of the national list of SCIs.
| Change since 2005 | Change since 2015 | Last year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
 |
|
|
| The share of SSPA increased and the building of the European network Natura 2000 started. | In the medium term, there has been no significant change in the area of PAs and within the construction of the European Natura 2000 system, the elaboration of care programmes for PAs (not yet completed), completion of the national list of SCIs pursuant to the conclusions of the negotiations with the EC, preparation of conservation projects for the declared SCIs, while the insufficiency of the designation of SCIs in Slovakia for some species and habitats persists. | Year-on-year, the area of the national protected area network is more or less unchanged. Preparation of protection projects for establishing SCI and expert proposals for SPAs management programmes continued. |
Summary assessment
| Updated representation of Special Protection Areas of the SR | Updated representation of Sites of Community Importance in the SR |
 |
 |
Detailed assessment
National network of protected areas
Map of national network of "large-size" protected areas in SR
Source: SNC SR
The overview of protected areas in the Slovak Republic as at 2020
| Category | Number | Acreage (ha) | % of SR acreage (including the BZ) |
|
| Core area | Buffer zones | |||
| Protected landscape area (PLA) | 14 | 522,582 | x | 10.66 |
| National park (NP) | 9 | 317,541 | 262,591 | 11.83 |
| SSPA: | ||||
| Protected landscape fragment (PLF) | 1 | 3 | x | >0 |
| Protected site (PS) | 181 | 11,707 | 2,425 | 0.29 |
| Nature reserve (NR) (including 3 private) |
376 | 16,338 | 547 | 0.34 |
| National nature reserve (NNR) | 202 | 80,342 | 2,239 | 1.68 |
| Natural monument (NM) (without caves and waterfalls) |
215 | 1,521 | 202 | 0.04 |
| Natural monument – public open caves | 45 | 0 | 31 | >0 |
| Natural monument – other declared caves |
9 | 0 | 261 | 0.01 |
| Natural monument – natural waterfalls |
0 | 0 | 0 | >0 |
| National natural monument (NNM) (without caves and waterfalls) |
11 | 59 | 27 | 0 |
| National natural monument – caves |
44 | 0 | 3.055 | 0.06 |
| National natural monument – natural waterfalls |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SSPA total | 1,089 | 107,547 | 8,787 | 2.42 |
Source: SNC SR
In addition to the abovementioned, there are regions in the territory of the Slovak Republic that are not classified with protection level – e.g. 41 declared special protection areas with the total area of 1,284,806 ha and 20 caves (14 NNM and 6 NM with the declared buffer zone of the total area of 3,347 ha (a large part of their territory overlaps with the national network of PA).
Share of protected areas according to selected categories
Share of protected areas according to protection level
An overview of protected areas in SR according to types and levels of protection
| Level of protection* | Category** | Acreage (ha) | % of SR acreage |
| 1. level | „open landscape“ | 3,755,917 | 76.6 |
| 2. level | PLA***, NP BZ***, PS, D zones | 742,559 | 15.14 |
| 3. level | NP***, PS, PS BZ, NR BZ, NNR BZ, NM BZ, NNM BZ, C zones, BZ of „SSPA“ according to the law | 290,453 | 5.92 |
| 4. level | NNR, NR, NNM, NM, PS, PLF, NNR BZ, NR BZ, NNM BZ, NM BZ, B zones | 27,235 | 0.56 |
| 5. level | NNR, NR, NNM, NM, A zones | 87,334 | 1.78 |
| 2. – 5. level | particularly protected parts of nature classified with protection level | 1,147,582 | 23.4 |
Source: SNC SR
* areas that do not have an assigned level of protection are not listed (SPA and NNM and cave buffer zones)
** listed are also buffer zones of protected areas in which, according to the law there is 3rd level of protection
*** area outside of so-called "small-size" protected areas (SSPA) and their buffer zones
Small-size protected areas
| Number of SSPA |
Area of SSPA (along with their BZ) |
% of the SR territory | |
| on the territory of the PLA |
241 |
14,762 |
2.82 |
| on the territory of NP |
193 |
68,511 |
21.58 |
| on the territory of NP buffer zones |
70 |
2,487 |
0.95 |
| in the so-called open landscape |
585 |
32,997 |
0.87 |
| National list of specially protected parts of nature of the SR |
Large-size protected areas
Overview of the national parks of the SR
| Name | Acreage (ha) | Acreage of protection zone (in ha) | Year of establishment and possibly updating |
| NP Malá Fatra | 22,630.0000 | 23,262.0000 | 1967 as PLA, 1988 |
| NP Muránska planina | 20,317.8021 | 21,697.9644 | 1977 as PLA, 1997 |
| NP Nízke Tatry | 72,842.0000 | 110,162.0000 | 1978, 1997 |
| Pieninský NP | 3,749.6226 | 22,444.1676 | 1967, 1997 |
| NP Poloniny | 29,805.0514 | 10,973.2893 | 1997 |
| NP Slovenský kras | 34,611.0832 | 11,741.5677 | 1973 as PLA, 2002 |
| NP Slovenský raj | 19,413.0000 | 5,474.0000 | 1964 as PLA, 1988, 2016 |
| Tatranský NP | 73,800.0000 | 30,703.0000 | 1948, 1987, 2003 |
| NP Veľká Fatra | 40,371.3433 | 26,132.5817 | 1974 as PLA, 2002 |
| Total of 9 NP | 317,359.9026 | 262,590.5707 |
Source: SNC SR
Overview of the protected landscape areas of the Slovak Republic
| Name | Acreage (ha) | Year of establishment and possibly updating |
| Biele Karpaty | 44,568.0000 | 1979, 1989, 2003 |
| Cerová vrchovina | 16,771.2273 | 1989, 2001 |
| Dunajské luhy | 12,284.4609 | 1998 |
| Horná Orava | 58,738.0000 | 1979, 2003 |
| Kysuce | 65,462.0000 | 1984 |
| Latorica | 23,198.4602 | 1990, 2004 |
| Malé Karpaty | 64,610.1202 | 1976, 2001 |
| Poľana | 20,360.4804 | 1981, 2001 |
| Ponitrie | 37,665.4100 | 1985 |
| Strážovské vrchy | 30,979.0000 | 1989 |
| Štiavnické vrchy | 77,630.0000 | 1979 |
| Vihorlat | 17,485.2428 | 1973, 1999 |
| Východné Karpaty | 25,307.1072 | 1977, 2001 |
| Záhorie | 27,522.0000 | 1988 |
| Total of 14 PLA | 522,581.5090 |
Source: SNC SR
European network of protected areas Natura 2000
SCI
SCI were proposed for 44 species of plants, 96 species of animals and 66 types of habitats.
|
The updated national list of SCIs (approved by Government Resolution No. 577 of 31 August 2011 and No. 495 of 25 October 2017) currently contains 642 SCIs. SCIs that do not overlap with the territories of the national system are mostly declared in the second level of protection. |
In 2020:
- The share of SCIs area in total area of Slovakia is 12.56%, while the average for terrestrial SCIs across the EU is 13.84% (according to EC data from February 2018). Within them, the share of agricultural land is 6.3% and the share of forest land is 83.9% (497 thous. ha, which represents approximately a quarter of the area of forest land in the Slovak Republic);
- In order to complete the network of SCIs, the year 2020 meant the completion of mapping of the habitat of Foothill hay meadows 6510 and the proposal of dozens of new sites ensuring its protection according to the requirements of the EC. In order to meet the quantitative criterion (20 %) of cover of this habitat, 15 000 ha of new sites had to be allocated for its conservation. This has mostly been achieved in existing national protected areas (especially CHKO - landscape parks and NP buffer zones), but it has also been necessary to propose entirely new sites from the open landscape (Level 1 protection). In addition to the habitat of foothill hay meadows, it was also necessary to add new sites for the habitat of Euro-Siberian steppic woods with Quercus spp 91I0 and some species, especially fish.
- The work of the expert group for the 91I0 habitat continued, coordinating its mapping in areas of poor coverage, as well as the external mapping of some species and habitats identified by the EC with a scientific reservation. This included habitat 6410 and species.
- Negotiation of the additions to the national list of SCIs was divided into 2 phases – in Phase 1, 30 new areas were proposed and discussed, mainly for the protection of fish, partly for habitats 6510, 91I0 and some species, in Phase 2, a total of 111 areas were proposed, mainly for the protection of the 6510 biotope.
- According to the pre-established rules for specifying the boundaries of the SCIs during 2020, work began on the preparation of a consolidated version of the national list of SCIs – i.e. the unification of the existing multiple promulgation regulations from 2004, 2017, 2018, including the new supplement, into a single common one. This step is crucial for the practical protection of these areas from the point of view of both the landowner/land user and the state administration.
- The process of declaring protected areas continued – in 2020, 10 PAs were declared by the Slovak Government regulations, which means a declaration of 12 sites of Community Importance (SKSCI) as protected areas. These include:
- Further government regulations were in the process of being legislated for the declaration of PAs, which will ensure the protection of an additional 13 SCIs.
- In 2020, process of internal comments on the draft Management Programs (MPs) for the SCI, which had been developed in previous years, continued. There are currently 93 approved MPs for small protected areas, most of which are also SCIs.
|
Decisions for the Pannonian and Alpine biogeographical region By approving the decisions for the Pannonian biogeographical region (Commission Decision 2008/26/EC of November 13, 2007 by which, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, the list of Sites of Community Importance in the Pannonian biogeographical region is adopted) and the Alpine biogeographical region (Commission Decision 2008/218/EC of January 25, 2008 adopting, pursuant to Council Directive 92/43/EEC, the updated list of Sites of Community Importance in the Alpine biogeographical region) by the European Commission, the process of approving the Sites of Community Importance was concluded for Slovakia, whereby 381 of SCIs from the national list became the Sites of Community Importance.
On December 21, 2009, the document "NATURA 2000 - Information on the supplement of National List of Sites of Community Importance" was approved at the Operational meeting of the Minister of Environment. On its basis, at the beginning of 2010, the SNC SR updated the list of parcels and identification of owners (administrators, lessees) of affected land plots for the draft supplement of the national list of SCIs. Furthermore, also border corrections were made, or certain additional proposed SCIs were excluded. Proposal of SCI Supplement based on our present knowledge contained a total of 266 areas (212 new territories and 54 territories expanding the national list). The presentation of the supplement to the EC is preceded by the discussion with the owners (administrators, lessees) of affected land plots, approval by the Government, and the processing in the form prescribed by the EC decision.
All plans for the declaration of SCIs as protected areas in the form of so-called conservation projects must be discussed in accordance with the Act on nature and landscape protection with identified owners and users of land. Conservation projects are developed primarily for areas not overlapped, or only partially overlapped with the national network of PAs, in accordance with the section 23, par.1 and 2 and Annex 25 of the Decree 24/2003 Coll. as amended, implementing the Act. 543/2002 Coll. on Nature and landscape protection.
According to the status as at June 2010, the conservation projects for 126 SCIs are in progress, sent to the respective Regional Environmental Office, or they are being discussed. So far, conservation projects for 51 SCIs have not been elaborated.
declared nature reserves and
declared protected sites Also the protection of SCI Bratislavské luhy part was ensured, when NR Slovanský ostrov was declared within its territory (with effect from 2010), and the NR Šúr was re-declared, including the SCI of the same name. In 2010, 8 new protected areas (PS) were declared as the part of Natura 2000 network, 3 of them came into force only in 2011. These are the following SCIs:
declared protected sites. In 2011, the first expansion of the national list of Sites of Community Importance of 2004 was carried out. Based on the EC requests, in the light of the results of biogeographical seminars and SR Government Resolution No. 577 of August 31, 2011 , the national list of Community Importance was supplemented with 97 new locations. At the same time, 6 former territories were excluded from the national list (SKUEV0394 Jovické rašelinisko, SKUEV0081 Čupák, SKUEV0082 Margitin háj, SKUEV0396 Devínske lúky, SKUEV0122 Šipoltovo and SKUEV0039 Bačkovské poniklece), which were originally incorrectly included based on a scientific error, and their exclusion was agreed by the EC. The added localities occupy 11 989 hectares, which constitutes 0.2% of the SR area.
The total share of SCI from SR territory was increased from 11.7% to 11.9% (EU average as at February 2011 was 13.4%). The current total number of SCI was 473 areas with an acreage of 584 353 ha. In the case of non-forest habitats of Community Importance (CI), the areas were supplemented mainly for the habitat of lowland and foothill hay meadows (6510), in case of the CI forest habitats for the habitat of riparian willow-poplar and alder forests (91E0), and in the case of CI species, the most areas were supplemented for European weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis). New locations are spread throughout Slovakia and they are mostly the sites with smaller acreage. Most SCI is located in areas that are or have been protected from a national title; i.e., they are national parks, protected landscape areas, nature reserves, etc. The current regime and the level of protection in these areas mostly comply with the requirements for maintaining the status of species and habitats with Community importance, and therefore there is no need to declare them again. The declaration of SCI therefore focuses mainly on sites previously unprotected, which would be damaged or degraded without measures adopted. The non-deterioration of Natura 2000 sites is the responsibility of each EU Member State. The areas are located mostly on forest lands (86.2%), smaller part on the agricultural lands (9.5%). A small portion is located on the water surface (about 2%), and other areas (about 2%). In March 2012, a negotiation with the European Commission was held in Bratislava, with the participation of independent experts from the Slovak Academy of Sciences, NGOs, Forests of Slovak Republic, s.e., National Forestry Centre and non-state forest owners. The negotiations concerned the sufficiency of the SCI specification. The European Commission assessed the expansion of the national list of SCIs, approved by the SR Government Resolution No. 577/2011 and subsequently submitted to the European Commission. The conclusions of the negotiations showed that there are sufficient areas of Community importance for about 78% of species and habitats of Community importance in Slovakia. In the near future, however, it will be needed to supplement the locations also for remaining habitats and species, especially fish.
In 2012, declaring the SCIs continued in the national categories of protected areas (in particular protected site or nature reserve). The territories are to be declared within 6 years after their approval by the EC, which is-in the case of SCIs presented in 2004-November 2013 or January 2014. In 2012, almost 60% of these locations were declared. 15 new small-size protected areas were declared, with the total area of about 3 250 ha (12 PS, 2 NR and 1 NP) which are at the same time the Sites of Community importance; others are in progress or in the legislative process. In 2013, no SCI was declared. At present, the declaring of SCI in national categories of protected areas is carried out (in particular protected site or nature reserve). In particular due to the amendment to Act No 543/2002 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection, as subsequently amended, its implementing Decree No. 24/2003 Coll. of 22 May 2014 and the absence of the methodology of procedure for declaring SCI, no SCI was declared in 2014.
In 2015, the SNC SR completed the expert proposal of the supplement of the national list of the SCI in accordance with conclusions of negotiations with the EC of 2012 regarding sufficiency of the definition of SCI. All relevant data were considered so that the proposal is high-quality and so that the SR fulfils the requirement to complete the system Natura 2000. After finishing and approving of the professional proposal at the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, negotiations will be held with owners and users of lands affected in accordance with section 27 of Act No 534/2002 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection, as subsequently amended. In 2016, the preparation of protection project for the declared SCI not overlapping with the national system of protected areas continued. The SNC SR submitted 38 protection projects to the Ministry of Environment of the SR. The process of completing the national list of SCI in accordance with conclusions of negotiations with the EC of 2012 also continued regarding sufficiency of the SCI definition. The proposal for completing the national list of SCI was pre-negotiated with majority state and non-state land owners. Negotiating pursuant to section 27 (3) of Act No. 534/2002 Coll. on Nature and Landscape Protection, as subsequently amended, implemented by means of district authorities in the region seat was scheduled for as late as 2017. In 2017 preparation continued for protection projects for establishing SCI, which are partially or fully outside of the national network of protected areas. Three proposals for government regulation were prepared, which established the Čenkov PS, Vinište PS, Bradlo PS. 20 new and 6 updated protection projects were compiled which were sent to the Ministry of Environment of the SR with the request for agreement with their pre-negotiation with concerned landowners, managers and tenants.
On 1st of January 2018 a measure from 7 December 2017 no. 1/2017 took effect. This measure establishes an addition to the national list of SCI in line with the resolution of the government of SR no. 495/2017 from 25. October 2017 about the Second update of the list of SCI. In 2018 an evaluation of adequacy of the updated national list of SCI was carried out on the part of European Commission. It was preceded by negotiations with the European Commission where the goal of State Nature Conservancy of the SR was to defend the adequacy of delimitation of SCI (A, B, C phases) for all species and biotopes of European importance. The official conclusions from the negotiations with European Commission remain a subject of consultations. State Nature Conservancy of the SR in 2018 continued with preparation of protection projects for establishing SCI, which are partially or fully outside of the national network of protected areas. 24 new protection projects were processed and 21 projects were updated according to the requirements of the Ministry of Environment of the SR. The district authorities located in regions were sent 12 protection projects. Their statement of intent began the approval process of 7 protection projects and the process of negotiating was concluded in regards to 12 areas which were, after the evaluation of comments, sent to the SR Ministry of Environment for further approval process. In 2019, SOP SR continued to prepare conservation projects for the declaration of SCIs that are fully or partially outside the national system of protected areas. Overall, 19 conservation projects have been developed and updated, of which 8 have been submitted to the district offices in the county seat for approval. In 2019, the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic completed procedures to remove contradictions in relation to the first government regulations declaring SCIs as protected areas. In 2019, the objects of protection of the SCIs were also updated and the abundances of species populations and areas of habitats in these areas were specified. The addition of these data to the Natura 2000 database (Standard Data Form) resulted from the conclusions of bilateral negotiations with the EC. Due to the persistent insufficiency of specification of SCIs in Slovakia for some species and habitats, their mapping was carried out. |
SPA
The special protection areas (SPA) are a newer category of the protected areas introduced in the national legal system – they are localities declared as protected based on criteria defined in Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (the Birds Directive).
The national list of proposed special protection areas (pSPA) was approved by the SR Government Resolution No. 636/2003 of 9 July 2003. In accordance with the section 26, par. 3 of Act no. 543/2002 Coll. on Nature and landscape protection. The list of SPAs contains the name of the location and cadastral area of the proposed special protection area, acreage of site and justification of protection proposal. The National lists of special protection areas and Sites of Community importance were delivered to the European Commission on April 28, 2004.
By the SR Government Resolution no. 345 dated May 25, 2010, the National list of SPAs was changed, 2 areas were excluded from it (Boheľovské ponds and Trnavské ponds), an in accordance with the European Commission´s instruction 5 new areas were added (Levočské mountains, Chočské Mountains, Čergov, Slovenský raj, and Špačince – Nižná).
| The list currently contains 41 areas with an acreage of 1,282,806 ha, which represents 26.2% of the SR territory. |
In 2012, the last territory from the national list of special protection area was declared - SPA Levočské Mountains; the decree came into force in 2013.
As of 2012, the SR Government approved all 41 special protection areas.
- The Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic coordinates the process of refinement of the expert proposals of management programs (MPs) for SPAs by the SOP SR, their revision in the light of the EC requirements and the publication of the proposals through the district offices in the county seat. This process was successfully completed in 2020 for 2 SPAs for which the Government of the Slovak Republic approved the MP - SPA Sysľovské polia and SPA Žitavský luh. The draft MP on the SPA Muránska planina – Stolica was published.
- In 2020, the SOP SR submitted to the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic expert proposals of MPs for additional SPAs – Volovské vrchy, Nízke Tatry, Veľká Fatra, Mala Fatra, Senianské rybníky and Tatry, in which e.g. protection objectives are supplemented according to the requirements of the EC.
- In Slovakia, out of the total of 41 designated SPAs, 20 of them have an approved MP. The documents are published on the website of the SOP SR as well as the MoE SR: https://www.minzp.sk/natura2000/.
|
In 2014, data collection continued in the form of monitoring and further mapping of selected (criteria) species of birds as a source document for the programmes of care of the selected SPA being prepared. On 1 January 2014, Decree No 466/2013 Coll., amending and supplementing Decree of the Ministry of Environment of the SR No 440/2008 Coll., came into effect, by which the SPA Dunajské luhy is declared. The preparation of the amendment to Decree No 202/2010 Coll. was also under way, by which the SPA Záhorské Pomoravie was declared. In 2019, the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with the SOP SR and district offices in the county seat, coordinated the process of refinement of the expert proposals of the MPs for SPAs, as well as the process of their negotiation pursuant to the Act on the Protection of Nature and Landscape and the inter-ministerial commentary procedure. In 2019, the Government of the Slovak Republic approved 5 MPs for SPAs (Slovenský raj, Poľana, Chočské vrchy, Čergov, Strážovské vrchy), bringing the total number of SPAs with approved nature conservation objectives and measures to 18 (out of a total of 41 SPAs). These were large SPAs in area, 4 of which are also designated for the protection of the habitats of the western capercaillie. ll approved management programs are available on the website of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic. |
| An overview of mutual overlap of areas of the network Natura 2000 |
An overview of overlap of areas of the network Natura 2000 with the national network of protected areas |
1) mutual overlap of SCIs and SPAs is 31.6% of their common acreage
2) mutual overlap of national system of PA and Natura 2000 is 42.3% of their common acreage
3) the area of SPAs according to the GIS is 1,310,287 ha (26.7%), but according to the decrees (which contain several erroneous data) their area is 1,284,806 ha (26.2%)
International comparison