摘要：Protected Natural Areas are one of the most frequently used tools for preserving the mainnatural features of a territory. Over time their focus has evolved from a prevalence of basicallyaesthetic criteria (spectacular landscapes with picturesque features such as high mountains,thickly wooded forests or rugged coastlines) to a more global vision that includes theconservation of the diversity of habitats present in any given territory. In the case of Europe thispoint of view crystallised in the setting up of the Natura 2000 Network, with the ambitious aimof creating a continent-wide network of Protected Natural Areas that will include examples ofall the different kinds of habitat to be found in the Old World. Its implementation in Spainmeans extending protected area status to approximately 28% of the territory, a significantproportion. However, for this protection to be effective it needs to go beyond a mere legaldeclaration and deploy a proper framework to ensure the active management not only of eachindividual area but also of the Network as a whole. Although the Natura 2000 Network cameinto being some years ago, a large proportion of the Natura 2000 Sites in Spain currently lackany form of planning and management, making them potentially vulnerable to numerous threatsand impacts that may eventually have a serious effect on them. The purpose of this article isthus to reveal the lack of protection afforded to these spaces, citing specific examples, and topropose corrective measures to improve the current situation.. The region of Galicia (NWSpain) is taken as a case in point, it being one of the self-governing regions in Spain where thisproblem is most apparent
关键词：Natural Protected Areas; Natura 2000 Network; planning and management; environmental;impact; Spain; Galicia
