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Natura 2000 is the key instrument to protect biodiversity in the European Union. It is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Natura 2000 is based on the 1979 Birds Directive and the 1992 Habitats Directive. The green infrastructure it provides safeguards numerous ecosystem services and ensures that Europe's natural systems remain healthy and resilient. This dataset is extraction of the Natura 2000 spatial dataset by EEA (http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/natura-1). The dataset is "Natura 2000 public end 2010" spatial dataset (latest update: 22 Mar 2011) downloaded from EEA website 13th of May 2013 and extracted areas that are within or proximity of the Baltic sea coastline dataset. |