3.1.1. Step 1: Ascertain whether the plan or project is directly connected with, or necessary to, the management of a Natura 2000 site

This step ascertains whether the plan or project is connected with, or necessary for, the management of a site, i.e. if it contributes to achieving the site’s conservation objectives. A non-conservation component of a plan or project which includes conservation management among its objectives may still require an appropriate assessment. For example, this could apply to timber harvesting that forms part of a conservation management plan for a woodland designated as a Natura 2000 site. The part of the activity, which is not necessary to the site's conservation management, should be subject to an appropriate assessment (16). There may also be circumstances where a plan or project directly connected with, or necessary for, the management of one site (the target site) may have a negative effect on another site. For example, to improve the flood management of a target site, the plan may propose to build a barrier in another site, which may have a significant adverse effect on that site. Therefore, the plan or project should be the subject of an assessment of the potentially significant effects on the other site. Consequently, the plans or projects that will be directly related or necessary to the management of the Natura 2000 sites under the Birds and Habitats Directives should be plans or projects that aim to, and will contribute to, preserving or, where appropriate, restoring the protected habitats and species in these sites to a favourable conservation condition.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.