| Current status | 2018 |  |
| Short term status |  | |
| Long term status | |
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Due to the expansion of urban and transport infrastructure large parts of Europe have become highly fragmented (EEA, 2021). This indicator highlights the level of fragmentation within and outside Natura 2000 sites in Ireland. Natura 2000 is a European network of ecological sites and is made up of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) (for more information on SACs and SPAs please follow links below). As seen in Figure C1i the majority of very high, high and medium fragmentation is taking place outside Natura 2000 sites which is the norm across Europe.
More information on the fragmentation pressure classes can be found here: https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/daviz/fragmentation-pressure-within-and-outside-1#tab-chart_1
More information on Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) can be found here:
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/spa
https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac
Fragmentation of protected habitats
Habitat fragmentation is the process whereby one continuous area of habitat is separated into two or more areas of habitat. Also, the size of the remaining habitat patches are typically smaller than the original area resulting in net loss of habitat. This indicator measures the level of fragmentation across protected habitats.