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The European Commission has approved the extension of protected sites throughout Europe, a move that environmental groups believe will improve conservation efforts to protect the continent's most seriously threatened habitats and species.

The 4,225 newly designated Natura 2000 sites of specially protected areas cover about 90,000km² — an area roughly the size of Portugal — within four bio-geographical regions.

Sites were added in: the boreal region, which includes Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries; the continental region, covering much of central Europe, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany and Poland; and the Atlantic seaboard region.

The pannonian region, which includes parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, is a completely new addition to the network. Further updates to the Alpine region, including the Carpathian areas of Slovakia and Poland, plus an update of the Mediterranean region, are due later this year.

“We are extremely pleased by the European Commission’s decision to extend the Natura 2000 network,” said Andreas Beckmann, Deputy Director for WWF’s Danube-Carpathian Programme.

“This marks a major milestone for nature protection in Europe and is an achievement for WWF, which has been working for several years to support preparations for introducing Natura 2000 to new EU member states.”