In Rheinland-Pfalz erfüllen die Natura 2000 Gebiete die IUCN Kategorie IV (Habitat Species management area).


Category IV protected areas aim to protect particular species or habitats and management reflects this priority. Many category IV protected areas will need regular, active interventions to address the requirements of particular species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category.
Primary objective
To maintain, conserve and restore species and habitats.
Other objectives:
To protect vegetation patterns or other biological features through traditional management approaches;
To protect fragments of habitats as components of landscape or seascape-scale conservation strategies;
To develop public education and appreciation of the species and/or habitats concerned;
To provide a means by which the urban residents may obtain regular contact with nature.
Distinguishing features

Category IV protected areas usually help to protect, or restore: 1) flora species of international, national or local importance; 2) fauna species of international, national or local importance including resident or migratory fauna; and/or 3) habitats. The size of the area varies but can often be relatively small; this is however not a distinguishing feature. Management will differ depending on need. Protection may be sufficient to maintain particular habitats and/or species. However, as category IV protected areas often include fragments of an ecosystem, these areas may not be self-sustaining and will require regular and active management interventions to ensure the survival of specific habitats and/or to meet the requirements of particular species. A number of approaches are suitable:

Role in the landscape/seascape
Category IV protected areas frequently play a role in “plugging the gaps” in conservation strategies by protecting key species or habitats in ecosystems. They could, for instance, be used to:
Protect critically endangered populations of species that need particular management interventions to ensure their continued survival;
Protect rare or threatened habitats including fragments of habitats;
Secure stepping-stones (places for migratory species to feed and rest) or breeding sites;
Provide flexible management strategies and options in buffer zones around, or connectivity conservation corridors between, more strictly protected areas that are more acceptable to local communities and other stakeholders;
Maintain species that have become dependent on cultural landscapes where their original habitats have disappeared or been altered.

What makes category IV unique?
Category IV provides a management approach used in areas that have already undergone substantial modification, necessitating protection of remaining fragments, with or without intervention.

Category IV differs from the other categories in the following ways:
Category Ia Category IV protected areas are not strictly protected from human use; scientific research may take place but generally as a secondary objective.
Category Ib Category IV protected areas can not be described as “wilderness”, as defined by IUCN. Many will be subject to management intervention that is inimical to the concept of category Ib wilderness areas; those that remain un-managed are likely to be too small to fulfil the aims of category Ib.
Category II Category IV protected areas aim their conservation at particular species or habitats and may in consequence have to pay less attention to other elements of the ecosystem in consequence, whereas category II protected areas aim to conserve fully functional ecosystems. Categories II and IV may in some circumstances closely resemble each other and the distinction is partly a matter of objective – i.e., whether the aim is to protect to the extent possible the entire ecosystem (category II) or is focused to protect a few key species or habitats (category IV).
Category III The objective of category IV areas is of a more biological nature whereas category III is site-specific and more morphologically or culturally oriented.
Category V Category IV protected areas aim to protect identified target species and habitats whereas category V aims to protect overall landscapes/seascapes with value for nature conservation. Category V protected areas will generally possess socio-cultural characteristics that may be absent in IV. Where category IV areas may use traditional management approaches this will explicitly be to maintain associated species as part of a management plan and not more broadly as part of a management approach that includes a wide range of for-profit activities.
Category VI Management interventions in category IV protected areas are primarily aimed at maintaining species or habitats while in category VI protected areas they are aimed at linking nature conservation with the sustainable use of resources. As with category V, category VI protected areas are generally larger than category IV.

Naturschutzrelevante Schutzgebiete und - objekte

Rheinland-Pfalz verfügt über nationale Schutzgebiete (Naturschutzgebiet, gesetzlich geschütztes Biotop, Naturpark, geschützter Landschaftsbestandteil, Naturdenkmal, Landschaftsschutzgebiet) sowie über europäische bzw. internationale Schutzgebiete (Natura 2000, IUCN Gebiete der Kategorie II, IV und V, ein Ramsargebiet und ein Biosphärenreservat).

Die europäischen Natura 2000 Gebiete entsprechen gleichzeitig der IUCN Schutzgebietskategorie IV (Habitat species management area), die IUCN Kategorie V (Protected Landscape/seascape) trifft auf 3 Naturschutzgebiete zu. Das Ramsargebiet besteht aus 3 Naturschutzgebieten. Außerdem wurde - gemeinsam mit dem Saarland - ein Nationalpark (IUCN Kategorie II) ausgewiesen.

In Rheinland-Pfalz erfüllen die Natura 2000 Gebiete die IUCN Kategorie IV (Habitat Species management area) und 3 Naturschutzgebiete die IUCN Kategorie V (Protected Landscape/seascape).


IUCN Protected Areas Categories System
Ia Strict Nature Reserve

Category Ia are strictly protected areas set aside to protect biodiversity and also possibly geological/geomorphical features, where human visitation, use and impacts are strictly controlled and limited to ensure protection of the conservation values. Such protected areas can serve as indispensable reference areas for scientific research and monitoring
Ib Wilderness Area

Category Ib protected areas are usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence within permanent or significant human habitation, which are protected and managed so as to preserve their natural condition.
II National Park

Category II protected areas are large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor opportunities.
III Natural Monument or Feature

Category III protected areas are set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, submarine cavern, geological feature such as a cave or even a living feature such as an ancient grove. They are generally quite small protected areas and often have high visitor value.
IV Habitat/Species Management Area

Category IV protected areas aim to protect particular species or habitats and management reflects this priority. Many Category IV protected areas will need regular, active interventions to address the requirements of particular species or to maintain habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category.
V Protected Landscape/ Seascape

A protected area where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct charcter with significant, ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values.
VI Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources

Category VI protected areas conserve ecosystems and habitats together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. They are generally large, with most of the area in a natural condition, where a proportion is under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non-industrial use of natural resources compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims of the area

Rheinland-Pfalz verfügt über 3 Gebiete, die die IUCN Kategorie V (Protected Landscape/seascape) erfüllen.
Das Naturschutzgebiet Bruchbach-Otterbachniederung (NSG-7334-103) mit 1543 ha , das Naturschutzgebiet Östliche Pfälzer Moorniederung (NSG-7335-202) mit 1387 ha und das Naturschutzgebiet Laacher See (NSG-7131-006) mit 2091 ha.

Category V - Protected Landscape/seascape
A protected area where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values.
Primary objective
To protect and sustain important landscapes/seascapes and the associated nature conservation and other values created by interactions with humans through traditional management practices.
Other objectives
To maintain a balanced interaction of nature and culture through the protection of landscape and/or seascape and associated traditional management approaches, societies, cultures and spiritual values;
To contribute to broad-scale conservation by maintaining species associated with cultural landscapes and/or by providing conservation opportunities in heavily used landscapes;
To provide opportunities for enjoyment, well-being and socio-economic activity through recreation and tourism;
To provide natural products and environmental services;
To provide a framework to underpin active involvement by the community in the management of valued landscapes or seascapes and the natural and cultural heritage that they contain;
To encourage the conservation of agrobiodiversity6 and aquatic biodiversity;
To act as models of sustainability so that lessons can be learnt for wider application.
Distinguishing features
Category V protected areas result from biotic, abiotic and human interaction and should have the following essential characteristics:
Landscape and/or coastal and island seascape of high and/or distinct scenic quality and with significant associated habitats, flora and fauna and associated cultural features;
A balanced interaction between people and nature that has endured over time and still has integrity, or where there is reasonable hope of restoring that integrity;
Unique or traditional land-use patterns, e.g., as evidenced in sustainable agricultural and forestry systems and human settlements that have evolved in balance with their landscape.
The following are desirable characteristics:
Opportunities for recreation and tourism consistent with life style and economic activities;
Unique or traditional social organizations, as evidenced in local customs, livelihoods and beliefs;
Recognition by artists of all kinds and in cultural traditions (now and in the past);
Potential for ecological and/or landscape restoration.
Role in the landscape/seascape
Generally, category V protected areas play an important role in conservation at the landscape/seascape scale, particularly as part of a mosaic of management patterns, protected area designations and other conservation mechanisms:
Some category V protected areas act as a buffer around a core of one or more strictly protected areas to help to ensure that land and water-use activities do not threaten their integrity;
Category V protected areas may also act as linking habitat between several other protected areas.
Category V offers unique contributions to conservation of biological diversity. In particular:
Species or habitats that have evolved in association with cultural management systems and can only survive if those management systems are maintained;
To provide a framework when conservation objectives need to be met over a large area (e.g., for top predators) in crowded landscapes with a range of ownership patterns, governance models and land use;
In addition, traditional systems of management are often associated with important components of agrobiodiversity or aquatic biodiversity, which can be conserved only by maintaining those systems.
What makes category V unique?
Category V differs from the other categories in the following ways:
Category Ia Human intervention is expected. Category V does not prioritize research, though it can offer opportunities to study interactions between people and nature.
Category Ib Category V protected areas are not “wilderness” as defined by IUCN. Many will be subject to management intervention inimical to the concept of category Ib.
Category II Category II seeks to minimize human activity in order to allow for “as natural a state as possible”. Category V includes an option of continuous human interaction.
Category III Category III focuses on specific features and single values and emphasises the monumentality, uniqueness and/or rarity of individual features, whereas these are not required for category V protected areas, which encompasses broader landscapes and multiple values.
Category IV Category V aims to protect overall landscapes and seascapes that have value to biodiversity, whereas category IV aims often quite specifically to protect identified target species and habitats. Category V protected areas will often be larger than category IV.
Category VI Category VI emphasises the need to link nature conservation in natural areas whilst supporting sustainable livelihoods: conversely category V emphasises values from long-term interactions of people and nature in modified conditions. In category VI the emphasis is on sustainable use of environmental products and services (typically hunting, grazing, management of natural resources), whereas in category V the emphasis is on more intensive uses (typically agriculture, forestry, tourism). Category VI will usually be more “natural” than category V.