Best Practice Network for SDI in Nature Conservation

The establishment of Natura 2000 and the new transboundary EU approach for protected sites management has enforced the link between nature conservation and geo-information. This has generated the need for interoperable, accessible and harmonised datasets for the EU.  The link is also addressed by the INSPIRE Directive which pursues an EU Spatial Data Infrastructure to support environmental policies.

Nature-SDIplus Network aims, through state-of-the-art methodologies and best practice examples, to improve harmonisation of national datasets and make them more accessible and exploitable. Therefore, it contributes to the INSPIRE implementation with specific reference to a cluster of data themes on nature conservation.

The main objective of the Nature-SDIplus Network is to:

• involve new stakeholders;
• share data and best practices;
• improve and stimulate exploitation and the re-use of information on nature conservation.