Data from: Freshwater Habitats in Natura 2000: Gaps in Prioritization and Protection

Freshwater biodiversity is experiencing dramatic declines both globally and in Europe. Despite improvements over the last decades, the overall trend remains negative, underlining that effective and coordinated initiatives are needed. In this study, we explore the representation of freshwater habitats in the Natura 2000 network to assess whether conservation and restoration measures within the network can contribute significantly to reverse freshwater biodiversity declines. Specifically, we provide an overview of freshwater habitats listed in the HD Annex I within the Natura 2000 network, evaluating their representation, coverage, and distribution including all surface- and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Data were extracted from the Natura 2000 database (version 2021; EC, 2022). We used datasets “NATURA2000SITES” (in all three datasets), “HABITATS” (in datasets 2_habitats_all and 3_habitats_freshwater), and “BIOREGION” (in dataset 3_habitats_freshwater).