Spatial analysis of green infrastructure in Europe

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Posted on: 6 March 2014
By: mackene
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Filed under: News

Healthy natural areas often fulfil important yet unseen functions, from preventing floods to filtering air. A new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) proposes a method for mapping this ‘green infrastructure’. The report maps a network of natural and semi-natural spaces and other environmental features in Europe with a good capacity to deliver  ‘ecosystem services’. These include air filtration, erosion protection, regulating water flow, coastal protection, pollination, maintaining soil structure, water purification, and carbon storage. The report also identifies key habitats for large forest-dwelling mammals and the analysis of connectivity among them. The objective of this report is to propose a feasible and replicable methodology for use by different entities and at varying scales, when identifying Green Infrastructure (GI) elements. The proposed methodology will help those policymakers and practitioners define a landscape GI network to identify areas where key habitats can be reconnected and the overall ecological quality of the area improved.

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