A key aspect to mitigate species extinction and conserve the biodiversity of ecosystems is the declaration of protected areas, especially for the most threatened species and habitats. vulnerable.

Environmental protection began in Spain in 1973, with the creation of the Federation of Natural and National Parks of Europe, which twenty years later became the EUROPARC Federation as a pan-European organization that brings together institutions from 39 countries dedicated to the management of protected areas and the defense of nature.

According to EUROPARC's 2020 annual report, Spain is the European Union country that contributes the most surface area to the Natura 2000 Network; this network is a cornerstone for the implementation of European directives on species conservation. It is considered the European Union's most important initiative for nature conservation worldwide (Herrera, 2021, 'Ecology, climate change and the sixth extinction', McGraw Hill). The surface area contributed by Spain to the Natura 2000 Network is almost double that of France.

The objective of the Natura 2000 Network is not to create wildlife reserves in which all human activity is excluded but, on the contrary, to seek a relationship of harmony and symbiosis between natural ecosystems and man. In the Network's areas, the aim is to carry out sustainable activities ranging from tourism and sports activities compatible with nature to agricultural and forestry activities, in such a way as to make the economy of local authorities compatible with the protection of nature. In this way, the public utility of natural areas is increased and sensitivity to biodiversity conservation is enhanced.

The latest Natura 2000 Network report notes that, despite significant efforts in the Member States, biodiversity continues to decline with deteriorating trends in most of Europe. Most protected habitats and species have a poor status as a result of continuing pressures due to changes in land use, overexploitation and unsustainable management practices, compounded by changing water regimes, pollution and invasive alien species.

However, the report also notes that positive advances are being made in a number of reptile, bird and mammal species as a result of successful in situ and ex situ conservation protection programs for species such as the Iberian lynx, the giant lizard of La Gomera, several birds of prey, the brown bear and the European mink, among others.

National parks are one of the most outstanding elements of Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) for the conservation of natural heritage. The first European national park was declared in Sweden in 1909. A few years later, the first national park of Ordesa y Monte Perdido was established in Spain in 1918. Since then, 15 other national parks have been created, the latest of which was the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, in the highest portion of the Serranía de Ronda (Málaga) declared in 2021. In addition, 53 Biosphere Reserves have been recognized in the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere program, 75 wetlands of international importance in the RAMSAR program, Sites of Community Importance (SCI's), Special Conservation Areas (SCA's), Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPA's) in accordance with the European Union's Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds; Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI), numerous natural parks and geoparks, natural reserves and monuments, as well as other figures developed by the autonomous communities. This natural wealth represents more than 2,000 Protected Natural Spaces with a surface area of approximately 14.8 million hectares, equivalent to 28% of the Spanish territory, representing the largest protection network on the European continent. Spain is thus at the head of the objective of the 'European Union Biodiversity Strategy for 2030', of the European Environment Agency, to protect at least 30% of the terrestrial surface.

Among the objectives of this new EU Biodiversity Strategy are:

• reduce pesticide use by 50% by 2030;

• provide space for wildlife, plants, pollinators and natural pest regulators;

• recover at least 10% of the agricultural area as high diversity;

• improving the protection of intact habitats and a plan for the restoration of degraded areas, and

• strict protection of all primary forests with a reforestation roadmap to plant three billion trees by 2030, as one of the Nature-Based Solutions, to function as carbon dioxide sinks and contribute in part to decarbonizing the planet and mitigating climate change.