Effective management and restoration of sites in the Natura 2000 network requires significant investments. However, costs are greatly outweighed by the benefits provided by the network.

In addition to playing a crucial role in protecting Europe’s biodiversity, Natura 2000 sites provide a wide range of other ecosystem benefits and services to society. The economic value of these multiple benefits has been considered to be very significant, but until recently few studies have been undertaken to evaluate this in detail. DG Environment has commissioned three contracts to help identify, evaluate and subsequently demonstrate the economic benefits provided by Natura 2000.

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