The global conservation organisation WWF has welcomed the EU's newest member states' progress in identifying protected sites to be included in the Natura 2000 network. Slovenia holds the record with a proposal covering 35 per cent of its territory. Slovakia has proposed protecting 28.9 per cent and the Czech Republic around 20 per cent of the country. Under pressure from the Commission and NGOs, Poland and Lithuania are currently adding new sites for their network.
Despite the good work on paper, "actual implementation will be the real test", says the WWF. In this respect "it is of outmost importance to secure adequate financing for the implementation of the Natura 2000 network and related rural initiatives from national and EU funds".
Natura 2000 implementation in the older member states has been more problematic. Selection of the sites was to be finished by 1998, but is only now nearing completion. Austria, for example, initially proposed 2.5 per cent of its surface area for Natura. Over the years, the percentage has grown to 14 per cent.
