NATURA 2000: Synergies and trade-offs between process-oriented conservation and the protection of threatened species

In light of accelerating biodiversity loss, process-oriented conservation – prioritizing the maintenance and restoration of self-regulating ecosystems by allowing natural processes to unfold - is increasingly promoted within and beyond protected areas. We evaluate its compatibility with the protection of threatened species in the Natura 2000 (N2k) network by addressing: (1) the spatial potential for process-oriented conservation in N2k sites; (2) implications for threatened species; and (3) variation in opportunities and constraints across European Ecological Regions (EERs) in the Alpine Space Programme area. We conducted a multistep analysis of 2376 N2k sites, quantifying overlap with priority areas proposed to meet the EU Biodiversity Strategy's 10% strict-protection target, assessing species' threat status and wilderness affinity, and estimating N2k's habitat potential to support threatened species with differing wilderness affinity. Overall, 58% of N2k sites overlap with priority areas, but only one third have more than 25% of their area overlapping. Of 396 endangered species targeted by N2k, 35% benefit from process-oriented conservation, whereas 42% depend on traditional, low-intensity land use. We identify distinct combinations of priority areas, targeted species, and habitat potential of N2k across EERs, with high compatibility in lowland N2k sites. These findings indicate that N2k can play a pivotal role in implementing process-oriented conservation to meet the “10% strict protection target”, provided that locations and management are tailored to site-specific and regional conditions. Designing strategies that acknowledge regional variation in wilderness affinity and land-use dependencies will be essential to reconcile process-oriented conservation with species conservation objectives within the N2k network.