Rules to protect Spain's natural heritage and biodiversity

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law sets the basic legal framework for conserving, sustainably using, improving and restoring natural heritage and biodiversity, as part of the duty to conserve and the right to a suitable environment.
2. It establishes principles such as conserving biodiversity and geological diversity, orderly use of resources, the priority of environmental protection over urban planning, and citizen participation.
3. It creates the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, which will record the distribution, conservation status and use of natural elements, along with a system of indicators and an annual report.
4. It keeps Natural Resource Management Plans as the basic planning tool, and provides for ecological corridors and precautionary protection while those plans are being processed.
5. It classifies protected natural areas into parks, nature reserves, marine protected areas, natural monuments and protected landscapes, and regulates peripheral protection zones and cross-border areas.
6. It regulates the Natura 2000 network: the areas that make it up are considered protected, and any plan or project that could significantly affect them must be assessed before approval.
7. It creates the List of Wild Species under Special Protection and the Spanish Catalog of Threatened Species, with the categories "in danger of extinction" and "vulnerable", and bans introducing invasive alien species.
8. It defines offenses and penalties: fines range from 500 to 2,000,000 euros depending on severity, and criminal liability prevails over administrative liability.

Who it affects

• Landowners in protected areas: They may face use restrictions, peripheral protection zones, and the administration's rights of first refusal and repurchase.
• Hunters and freshwater fishers: They can only hunt or fish species determined by the autonomous communities, with bans on certain methods and on lead ammunition in protected wetlands.
• Companies and project developers: Their plans and projects must be assessed if they could affect Natura 2000 sites, and they may face penalties if they damage protected habitats or species.
• Citizens and environmental organizations: They can request the inclusion of species or habitats in the catalogs and take part in public consultation processes.
• Autonomous communities: They must prepare management plans, declare and manage protected areas, and adopt conservation measures for wild species.

Words worth knowing

Red Natura 2000 (Natura 2000 network)

A European ecological network of protected areas designated to conserve habitats and species of community interest.

Tanteo y retracto (rights of first refusal and repurchase)

Rights allowing the administration to buy a property before or after it is sold to a private party, at the same price.

Especie alóctona (alien species)

A species that is not native to the place, that is, one introduced from outside its natural range.

Plan de Ordenación de los Recursos Naturales (Natural Resource Management Plan)

A plan that delimits and organizes the protection and use of natural resources in a territory.

Convenio (international convention)

An international agreement signed between states that sets commitments on a subject, such as nature conservation.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries