# CODE_LIST_DO_NOT_MODIFY

lu_ShortDescription:
Designation do not create sites (for example protected habitat where it ever appears)


lu_ShortDescription:
Designation creates sites (is measurable and will be also recorded in sites table even if not yet then in future)


lu_Definition:
Designation types used with the intention to protect fauna, flora, habitats and landscapes (the latter as far as relevant for fauna, flora and for habitat protection)


lu_Definition:
Statutes under sectorial, particularly forestry, legislative and administrative acts providing an adequate protection relevant for fauna, flora and habitat conservation


lu_Definition:
Private statute providing durable protection for fauna, flora or habitats


lu_Definition:
Area of land/or sea possessing some outstanding or representative ecosystems, geological or physiological features and/or species, available primarily or scientific research and/or environmental monitoring.

lu_ShortDescription:
Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for science


lu_Definition:
Large area of unmodified or slightly modified land and/or sea, retaining its natural character and influence, without permanent or significant habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural condition.

lu_ShortDescription:
Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection


lu_Definition:
Natural area of land and/or sea, designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible.

lu_ShortDescription:
National park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation


lu_Definition:
Area containing one, or more, specific natural or natural/cultural feature which is of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative or aesthetic qualities or cultural significance.

lu_ShortDescription:
Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features


lu_Definition:
Area of land and/or sea subject to active intervention for management purposes so as to ensure the maintenance of habitats and/or to meet the requirements of specific species.

lu_ShortDescription:
Habitat/Species Management Area: protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention


lu_Definition:
IUCN category will never be available for some reason


lu_Definition:
Area of land, with coast and sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such an area.

lu_ShortDescription:
Protected Landscape/Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation


lu_Definition:
Area containing predominantly unmodified natural systems, managed to ensure long term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while providing at the same time a sustainable flow of natural products and services to meet community needs.

lu_ShortDescription:
Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems


lu_ShortDescription:
A field was updated to a more recent value or text


lu_ShortDescription:
Longitude is east of Greenwich meridian.


lu_ShortDescription:
Longitude is west of Greenwich meridian.


lu_Definition:
The other site includes the described site completely


lu_Definition:
The described site includes another site completely


# DEFINITIONS_DATASET_DO_NOT_MODIFY

ds_Name:
Common Database on Designated Areas (CDDA)

ds_Methodology:
CONTENT OF THE CURRENT CDDA DATABASE

The 2003 CDDA database on nationally designated areas contains three products:
·	List of designation types at national or sub-national level, according to the typology developed in the Standard Data Form for Natura2000 under the Habitats Directive or the Emerald network under the Bern Convention (A, B and C types: see Designations table)
·	The sites data base for those designation types which create site networks
·	Boundary information (please, refer to the specific guidelines at the end)

For the validation the existing data on designation types and on sites for each country are distributed in one MS-Access file "CDDA-XX-YYYYMM" with four data tables and boundary information in a geographical information system:

·	Designations-XX: 	list of designation types
·	Sites-XX: 	table of nationally designated areas (which now include altitude information)
·	Siterelations-XX: 	table indicating the site relationships
·	Habitats-XX: 	table containing habitat information

·	Boundary information:	as delivered by country according to the guidelines

"XX" 	stands for the IS0 2 character country code
"YYYY"	stands for the year in which the file was created
"MM"	stands for the month in which the file was created


DEFINITION OF A 'SITE':
The definition of a "protected area" adopted by IUCN is:

An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means.

Furthermore, IUCN recognises:

Although all protected areas meet the general purposes contained in this definition, in practice the precise purposes for which protected areas are managed differ greatly. The following are the main purposes of management: Scientific research, Wilderness protection, Preservation of species and genetic diversity, Maintenance of environmental services, Protection of specific natural and cultural features, Tourism and recreation, Education, Sustainable use of resources from natural ecosystems, Maintenance of cultural and traditional attributes.

The definition of a "designated area" within the CDDA is very similar. The "designation types" are grouped according to 3 classes, which clearly reflects the note above by identifying designation types in other sectors (type B). Type C could refer to "or other effective means".

As some of the designation types do not refer to the creation of individual site networks, the definition of the CDDA also includes "area covering" designations such as the protection of the complete distribution of certain habitats. This is an addition to the IUCN "protected area" definition.


# DEFINITIONS_ELEMENTS_DO_NOT_MODIFY

e_Definition:
Internal unique sequential number; reference id to UNEP WCMC Worlds Data Base on Protected Areas. This number is given at international level and does not need to be edited by the country.


e_Definition:
Flag to indicate whether the designation does or does not create sites (is measurable by area).

e_Methodology:
A "Yes" in this field indicates that the CDDA should contain sites data for this designation, even if no sites are yet recorded in the Sites table.

As explained in the description of the Designations table, some of the designation do not create sites in the classical sense, such as the protection of the complete distribution of a particular habitat or zoning systems in other sectors.

In the case you indicate "No", you are asked to fill an estimate or exact figure of the area covered within the country by this designation in the "Total Area Reference" field.


e_Methodology:
Any useful remark to understand what this designation is about may be entered in this field.

If the designation is to be deleted from the CDDA, the reason should be explained here.


e_Definition:
Total area in hectares covered within the present version of the CDDA sites table.

e_Methodology:
The total surface area coverage (ha) shown in this field together with number of sites shown in the "Number" is given by ETC BD just for your information to help you to check the data more easily. 

You should NOT correct the figures in these fields. 

The fields will be updated subsequently by ETC BD from the corrections and additions that you make to the Sites table.


e_Definition:
Reference to the publication in Official Journal

e_Methodology:
Please enter the full reference to the Official Journal in which the law was published.

For type C designations this field can be left blank.


e_Methodology:
Please enter the full reference to the law (including paragraph number(s)) covering the designation type concerned. 

For type C designations this field can be left blank.


e_Definition:
full address of the administrative authority

e_Methodology:
Enter the full address of the administrative authority responsible for this designation


e_Methodology:
To avoid all misunderstandings with translations of titles, each designation type must be identified with its correct title in original language referenced to an official source (Law, decree,….). 

This should guarantee the best link to the real situation in your country. In the case of other character sets you should transliterate the titles (e.g. Greek, Cyrillic).


e_Definition:
French translation of the official title of the designation.

e_Methodology:
For a better understanding in an international context, the official titles are translated in to English and French. When translation is obvious or already available in the existing information, the fields are filled. 

Please correct or add the necessary translations to what you think reflects best the title in original language.


e_Definition:
Number of Sites for this designation within the present version of the CDDA sites table.

e_Methodology:
The number of sites shown in this field is provided by ETC BD just for your information to help you to check the data more easily. 

You should NOT correct the figures in this field. 

It will be updated subsequently by ETC BD from the corrections and additions that you make to the Sites table.


e_Definition:
The ISO 3 character country code is the only valid code for this field


e_Definition:
Reference date for the official statistics for the designation.

e_Methodology:
The date mentioned in the official source shown in the field  "Data Source".


e_Definition:
The designation type category according to the codes (A, B or C) used in appendix D of the Natura 2000 Standard Data Form (Protection status categories in each Member State at national and regional level). The same designation type categories are also used by the Emerald network.


e_Definition:
Reference to source of information for the remarks


e_Definition:
Number of Sites for this designation as indicated by an official source.

e_Methodology:
The value in this field has been taken from an official information source (Environmental reports, biodiversity reports, official websites, ….). 

This information is a way of evaluating the completeness and quality of the site data in the CDDA. 

The values in these fields should NOT be changed, unless more recent official statistics are available. Please indicate in this case the sources used in the field "Data Source".


e_Definition:
The total surface area coverage (hectares) as indicated by an official source for non-site based designation types .

It should be filled if the field "CDDA sites" is "No".

e_Methodology:
The statistic for the total surface area covered has been taken from an official information source (Environmental reports, biodiversity reports, official websites, ….). 

The value should NOT be changed, unless more recent official statistics are available. Please indicate in this case the sources used in the field "Data Source".


e_Definition:
English translation of the official title of the designation.


e_Definition:
This field accumulates codes given in appendix D of the NATURA 2000 Standard Data Form or Emerald Standard Data Form. This code is unique for national designation types in EUNIS.

e_Methodology:
Designation code should always be ISO2 character country code + 2 numbers starting with 00 (indicating designation type "No protection status" and ending with 99 indicating "Others")

For countries which have not yet checked the data through the EIONET data flow process, it is still possible to find designation codes as abbreviations (not like described above) that were present in the CDDA before. If such abbreviations are still present in your country database, they should be marked to be deleted if the designation type does not correspond to an existing type in the law or they should be transformed to the coding principles explained above as new entry. 

For designations that are not yet present, a new code is to be given following the coding principles in the appendix of the NATURA 2000 and Emerald Standard Data Form (described above).


e_Definition:
Flag to indicate that the designation should be deleted.

e_Methodology:
To be able to maintain the central data base, designation types which are not valid any more can be marked for deletion in this field. 

The reason for deletion should be added in the remarks field. 

As long as existing linked data still use those codes they are kept alive in the central data base. As soon as all tables are compatible with this deletion, the record will be actually deleted from the data base. 

As an example we can mention some of the designations from the first version of the NATURA2000 Standard Data Form (appendix D) which are now marked for deletion. But, the present NATURA2000 data base is still using the code and needs updating according to the new list.


e_Definition:
Official source (Environmental report, biodiversity report, official website,..) of the statistics for the designation.

e_Methodology:
Enter the reference to the documents or other information sources.


e_Definition:
ISO 3 character code for the reporting country


e_Definition:
Geographical Co-ordinate in decimal degrees.

e_Methodology:
Degrees west should be indicated with a minus sign


e_Definition:
The unique record identifier for the site in the national database on designated areas.

e_Methodology:
More and more countries are building up national databases on designated areas, which should be used as the source database for the CDDA.
If links between the unique record identifiers for sites are established, the future updates will be much easier to perform.


e_Definition:
The name of the person who did the actual editing of the data.


e_Definition:
Year of establishment. The year the site was first time designated.

e_Methodology:
Subsequent revisions of the site should not be mentioned here, only the year the site was designated. 

If a site was designated previously under another designation type or site name, but not longer valid, a comment should be made in the NOTES field in the Sites table.


e_Methodology:
A "0" area value may be given to point objects, like trees, caves or steep cliffs etc. 
This field should contain the latest surface area figure. 
Changes in surface area for a particular site are not recorded.


e_Definition:
ISO 3 character code for the country where the site is located.

e_Methodology:
For countries with overseas territories under their jurisdiction, the ISO3 country code maybe different from the parent country code. (e.g. GLP for Guadeloupe and FRA for France. 

This distinction is made for easy integration in the World database on the one hand and easy administration on the other hand. In this way, countries are contacted only once for information about designated areas within the whole geographical area under their jurisdiction.

In most countries the ISO3 and PARENT_ISO codes are identical.


e_Definition:
The maximum altitude (meters) above sea level within the site boundaries.


e_Definition:
To be able to maintain the central data base, sites which are not valid any more can be marked for deletion in this field.

e_Methodology:
When a site has been marked for deletion, the NOTES field in the Sites table should be used to indicate the reason for doing so.


e_Methodology:
Any remark which is usefull to "understand the data contained in the other fields can be added in this field.


e_Methodology:
Degrees south should be indicated with a minus sign


e_Definition:
The IUCN management categories according to the new system (IUCN (1994), Guidelines for Protected Area Management Categories: http://www.iucn.org/places/medoffice/definicionEN.htm

e_Methodology:
Sites with missing IUCN category are marked with either "NA" stands for "Not available" or "UA" which stands for "Unassigned". First category is mainly for those sites that never will have any IUCN categorisation and latter is especially those records which should be corrected and if possible a category should be given taking in to account the criteria for the application of the categories.

If you have entered one of categories above an explanation should be documented in the NOTES field, to be able to "understand" the reason why IUCN category is not available.


e_Definition:
The abbreviation of the institution responsible for editing of the record.


e_Definition:
The minimum altitude (meters) above sea level within the site boundaries.


e_Definition:
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is defined only for the Member States of the European Union.
For the candidate countries awaiting accession to the EU, for the other European Economic Area (EEA) countries and for Switzerland, a coding of Statistical Regions has been defined by Eurostat in agreement with the countries concerned.

e_Methodology:
This field is of particular interest for countries with regionalised administrative structure. It enables the splitting of the database in to different regions.

The latest version can be found at:
http://europe.eu.int/comm/eurostat/ramon/nuts/codelist_en.cfm?list=nuts


e_Definition:
Designation type title in English as taken from the Designations table.

e_Methodology:
This field is there for a better readability and should not be edited. For new records this field may be left empty.


e_Methodology:
Some countries still have site names translated in English. They should be corrected to the name in local language! For languages with other than Latin characters, a transliteration should be used (e.g. Greek, Cyrillic)


e_Definition:
Unique record identifier within the CDDA data base for nationally designated areas.

e_Methodology:
This field may NOT be changed as it forms the link to the source data base. 

For newly created sites, the international data manager will fill this field, when integrating the sites in the central data base management system. After that, the codes will flow back to the national data base.

If sites are to be merged or a site needs to be split in to more different parts, ETC/BD should be consulted on how to proceed with the site codes given at international level.


e_Methodology:
Degrees should be labelled with "N" or "S" when using degrees, minutes and seconds in separate fields. See data elements LATDEG, LATMIN, LATSEC.


e_Methodology:
If some fields in the site record are corrected and some are updated, you may choose the most important change type, according to your expert judgement.


e_Definition:
Designation type code for the site as taken from the list of designations (see table Designations).

e_Methodology:
If a site has received more than one designation, you should find or create for each of the designations a separate record containing the attributes for the designation type concerned.


e_Methodology:
Degrees should be labelled with "E" or "W" when using degrees, minutes and seconds in separate fields. See data elements LONDEG, LONMIN, LONSEC.


e_Definition:
The percentage of the site covered by this habitat class up to 2 decimals.


e_Definition:
The unique record identifier. This field can only contain existing site codes as identified in the Sites table.


e_Definition:
The unique code of the EUNIS habitat classification up to the fourth level. You are free to choose the level but level 2 is minimally recommended.

e_Methodology:
For the Habitat-types, the EUNIS Habitat classification is used as the reference. If needed, any additional information can be obtained from http://mrw.wallonie.be/dgrne/sibw/EUNIS/home.html or from the ETC/NPB expert concerning habitat types, Dorian Moss: (DOR@wpo.nerc.ac.uk).


e_Definition:
The unique record identifier within the CDDA database for nationally designated areas. This field can only contain existing site codes as identified in the Sites table.


e_Definition:
The unique record identifier of the related site. This field can only contain existing site codes as identified in the Sites table.

e_Methodology:
Only existing site code from sites table could be entered hereby. If the site related to other is new record and do not yet have site code you should contact CDDA administrator (Lauri Klein: Lauri.Klein@ic.envir.ee or +3726737576) to get sitecode before entering record into that field.


e_Definition:
The percentage of the described site that is overlapping with the other site.

e_Methodology:
Note that for each relationship, two records are added to the table to describe the mutual relationship.


e_Definition:
The type of relationship between two sites. All possible relationships are coded.


e_Definition:
A datum provides a frame of reference for measuring locations on the surface of the earth. It defines the origin and the orientation of latitude and longitude lines.  Examples of datums: ETRS89, WGS84.

e_Methodology:
See also EEA guidelines for geographic data and maps (2003) <http://eionet.europa.eu/gis/docs/EEA_GIS_Guidelines2003.doc>


e_Definition:
Minimal digitising scale or the nearest possible: 1/100.000

e_Methodology:
Very small sites (<100 ha) may be indicated as points at scale 1/100.000.


e_Definition:
In a projection the three-dimensional surface of earth is transformed into a two-dimensional, flat map sheet. In a projected coordinate system, locations are identified by x,y coordinates on a grid, with the origin at the center of the grid.


e_Definition:
Designation type code as in the list of designations (see table Designations).


e_Methodology:
Data formats: 
EEA is able to use GIS digital data in most standard mapping formats. ArcInfo export format and ArcView shape files are ideal, but Mapinfo interchange files or dxf files are also acceptable when sufficiently described. 

Different data structures may exist in different countries for geographical layers and attribute tables. Whatever format is used, it should be possible to extract from the delivered GIS data, separate layers for each of the designation types in "Designation" table and individual points, lines or polygons should refer to at least one of the CDDA site codes as indicated in the "Sites" table. 

If one site is designated under several designations it might be present in different GIS layers. In such cases, attention should be given that exactly the same boundary is present in the different layers. 

See also EEA guidelines for geographic data and maps (2003) <http://eionet.europa.eu/gis/docs/EEA_GIS_Guidelines2003.doc>


e_Definition:
Geographical data can be points, lines and polygons.


# DEFINITIONS_TABLES_DO_NOT_MODIFY

tbl_Methodology:
In the table 'Designations', you will find a list of designations for your country. For EU member countries, the bases for this list were the data submitted for the creation of appendix D of the NATURA 2000 Standard Data Form ("Protection status categories in each Member State at national and regional level"). In this appendix the designation types are classified according to 3 categories:

Category A:	Designation types used with the intention to protect fauna, flora, habitats and landscapes (the latter as far as relevant for fauna, flora and for habitat protection).
Category B:	Statutes under sectorial, particularly forestry, legislative and administrative acts providing an adequate protection relevant for fauna, flora and habitat conservation.
Category C:	Private statute providing durable protection for fauna, flora or habitats

For non-EU countries, the list is based on the data being prepared under the Emerald network of the Bern Convention. As Emerald is being developed on the same scientific and technical bases, the same coding principles are taken over.
As this list contains also statutes under sectorial, particularly forestry, legislative and administrative acts, many of them do not result in a specific list of sites, but they may be used as a designation within individual areas, identified under other legislation.

In some cases, additional designation types were identified resulting from earlier requests on designated areas by the partner organisations (UNEP-WCMC and/or Council of Europe). These types have been added to the list with an abbreviation in the code field when data were already present in the common data base or with a code starting with "XX98" downwards (XX being the ISO 2 character country code). The complete set should be verified and corrected according to the actual situation.

tbl_ShortDescription:
Table contains the list of designations and references to laws


tbl_Definition:
Information on the site records for each designation type creating "sites" (the field "CDDA sites" in the Designations table must be set to "Yes")

tbl_Methodology:
Geographical co-ordinates:
The geographical co-ordinates can be stored in two different ways: decimal degrees (LAT, LON) or degrees, minutes and seconds in separate fields (LAT_NS, LATDEG, LATMIN, LATSEC, LON_EW, LONDEG, LONMIN, LONSEC). You are free to choose whatever system is easier for you. 
Any point within the boundary of the designated area is considered to be correct. In the case of "multi-polygon" areas, expert judgement should provide the best location of the central point, usually within the largest sub-area, but always within site boundaries. The use of GIS data to fill those fields is highly recommended, especially for countries that have already boundary information in a GIS format available.

tbl_ShortDescription:
The table contains the information on the individual designated areas at national level.


tbl_Definition:
This table accumulates data on habitats and habitat cover within the site boundary.


tbl_Definition:
This table allows to indicate neighbouring sites or sites belonging to different designation types which overlap or neighbour each other.

tbl_Methodology:
This table can only be filled if boundary information is available for a significant part of all designation types described. The relational data are the only way to produce reliable statistics on surface area covered by different designation categories.


tbl_Definition:
Officially recognised boundaries in an interchangeable digital format with known projection at a scale of 1/100.000 or nearest possible for all designation types and sites in the CDDA.

tbl_Methodology:
The geographical details must have been digitised only from maps or geographical documents of the same detail and quality as the official published topographic maps and meeting all the standards of the competent topographical institute. Polygons should be referenced to the CDDA designation types (designation type code) on the one hand and the CDDA sites data base (site code) on the other hand.

Available data: 
A few countries have already voluntary delivered site boundary information, following the request at the EIONET meeting in Budapest in 2001. A country specific report on the data delivered through EIONET is available at the same place as where your CDDA site data is listed. 

UNEP-WCMC collected boundary information in a variety of ways for a number of European countries. If so, an ArcView shape file (UNEP-WCMC boundaries.zip) is available in the same pickup site as for the other information. 

Each country is requested to evaluate, update and/or replace the existing boundary information by official data on site boundaries according to the principles explained above.


