Investigating the (Un)Integration Between Sectoral Policies with the Habitat Degradation Model

Even if the Natura 2000 Network was established in order to preserve the biological diversity among the European States, a relevant percentage of Natura 2000 sites are expected to be lost by the end of this century and an issue linked to the effectiveness of conservation policies emerges. This paper deals with the (un)integration between sectoral policies and different competences that leads to a lacking monitoring system of territorial management performances in terms of achieving the conservation objectives of the Natura 2000 site and the management of the remediation of a polluted area. The case study includes indeed a Site of National Interest (SNI), for which several reclamation projects are still in the submission/approval phase, and a partially overlapping Natura 2000 Network Site. The tool used as a proxy for monitoring the biodiversity spatial distribution over the study area is the degradation map computed by the ‘Habitat quality and degradation’ InVEST tool. After defining a baseline representative of the current conditions, two medium and long-term scenarios respectively were compared in order to assess the effects procedure of partial and total remediation of the SNI on the habitat quality and degradation. This methodology is aimed to offer a valuable support to the decision-makers and the competent authorities in biodiversity conservation policy design by allowing to overcome the limits related to the actual normative framework concerning the land management system.