Area of Special Conservation Interest


An Area of Special Conservation Interest is a protected area in Europe or North Africa, part of the Emerald network established by the countries who have signed the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.
The purpose of the ASCIs is to conserve and protect habitats and species defined in the convention.

Emerald Network

The Emerald Network is an ecological network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest.
The Council of Europe launched the network when it adopted Recommendation No. 16 of the Standing Committee to the Bern Convention.
The European Union's Natura 2000 network covers the portion of the Emerald network within the EU.
The network also include conservation units in non-community European states such as Andorra, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Norway, Switzerland and Ukraine, and in several African states.
In the United Kingdom, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas are Areas of Special Conservation Interest.
The African signatories to the Bern Convention include Burkina Faso, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal.

Criteria

An ASCI should meet one or more of the following criteria as defined at UNEP-WCMC 2014, Biodiversity A-Z website: www.biodversitya-z.org, UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK: