Ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur · Publieke Dienstverlening Op de Kaart

Dutch source

Natura 2000 sites

The official boundaries of all Natura 2000 sites in the Netherlands: the nature protected under the EU Birds Directive and Habitats Directive. There are 162 sites, three of them in the North Sea. Each site has its number, the European site code, the type of protection and the designation decision. Via PDOK as WFS, OGC API and download.

Climate and environmentOpenMap layerDownloadAPINetherlands · site (boundary)

Up to date · updated in January 2026 · checked 17:23

Natura 2000 sites by EU directive: Habitats Directive only is the largest part, 52% in January 2026

Breakdown in January 2026: Habitats Directive only 52%, both directives 35%, Birds Directive only 14%. Total: 162 sites.

Source: RVO, Natura 2000-gebieden via PDOK (WFS) · opgehaald 25 oktober 2026 · selection: 162 gebieden uit 209 kaartobjectenOpen the table Single block

What you can build with it1

AppNature in your neighbourhood: which species were seen and how green is it?An app that shows, for any point in the Netherlands, which plants and animals were observed within 1 km, how much of the land is green and how far away the nearest Natura 2000 site is.3 sourcesGetting started

What can you do with it?4 ideas

Getting started

How far do you live from Natura 2000?

Calculate for each address or neighbourhood the distance to the nearest site. That makes the nitrogen debate concrete for your own region.

Getting started

Birds, habitats or both

The beschermin field says what a site is designated for: VR (Birds Directive), HR (Habitats Directive) or VR+HR. Colour the map by it.

Advanced

Nitrogen per site

Lay the boundaries over RIVM's nitrogen maps and calculate the average deposition per site. Compare with what RIVM reports in its nitrogen monitor.

Advanced

Which species are observed there?

Use one site's boundary as a search area in GBIF and count observations per species and per year.

How to process it4 steps

Everything at once, as GeoPackage
The download is one GeoPackage of just over 9 MB in RD (EPSG:28992). This is the easiest route for a map of the whole country.
```
https://service.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/atom/downloads/natura2000.gpkg
```
One site via the OGC API
The OGC API can filter by name (naam_n2k). Veluwe returns two features: a small separate part and the main site of over 88,000 hectares. The response is over 3 MB because of the geometry.
```
https://api.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/ogc/v1/collections/natura2000/items?f=json&naam_n2k=Veluwe
```

Or via the WFS

The WFS has one layer, natura2000:natura2000, with 209 features for 162 sites: some sites consist of several parts. Merge them on nr before counting per site.

https://service.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/wfs/v1_0?request=GetFeature&service=WFS&version=2.0.0&typeNames=natura2000:natura2000&outputFormat=application/json&srsName=EPSG:4326&count=1

Mind the field names
WFS and OGC API name the same fields differently: naamN2K versus naam_n2k, sitecodeH versus sitecode_h. Choose one route and stick to it.

Interesting combinations

geometrie van het gebied

Which species have been seen in this site over the past ten years?

Simplify the boundary to a polygon in WGS84 (EPSG:4326) and use it as search area in the GBIF API. Simplify large sites first, otherwise the query becomes too long.

Combine with GBIF biodiversity

begrenzing (bbox)

How does the vegetation in a site change?

Search scenes within the site's bbox and compare a greenness index (NDVI) per season, only within the boundary.

Combine with Copernicus Sentinel-2

Similar sources

NN
Natura 2000 Network Viewer (EEA) not in the index yet
All Natura 2000 sites in Europe, with the species and habitats each site is designated for.
MS
Monitor stikstofdepositie in Natura 2000-gebieden (RIVM) not in the index yet
How much nitrogen lands on the sites, now and in projections. The boundaries themselves are not included.
ESA WorldCover
What actually grows or stands there (forest, grass, cropland, buildings), not what is protected.

What to watch out for

Not every site is formally designated
According to the service description, it contains the boundaries of formally designated sites, and for the others the boundary from the draft decision or as reported to the European Commission. Read the status field per site.
Dates in the metadata are off
The NGR record gives a revision date in 2028 and a next update in 2018. For the version, rely on the date in the ATOM feed (27 January 2026).
Site is not the same as habitat
The boundary shows where the site is, not which habitat types or species occur where within it. Those are in the provinces' habitat type maps and in the management plans.
Two projections
By default everything comes in RD (EPSG:28992). For a web map, request EPSG:4326 or EPSG:3857.

APIOGC WFS 2.0.0 · read 16 Oct 2026

StandardOGC WFS 2.0.0docs

Access no key

No key. Fees: none; access constraints: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.nl. from the description

Size209

features in natura2000:natura2000 tested

Formats

application/gml+xml; version=3.2text/xml; subtype=gml/3.2.1text/xml; subtype=gml/3.1.1application/json; subtype=geojsonapplication/json

Base URL

https://service.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/wfs/v1_0

Endpoints 5

GET?request=GetCapabilitiesservice description
GET?request=DescribeFeatureTypefields of a layer (XSD)
GET?request=GetFeaturethe features themselves, with geometry
GET?request=ListStoredQueriesstored queries
GET?request=DescribeStoredQueriesstored query details

Layers and projections

natura2000natura2000:natura2000EPSG:28992, EPSG:25831, EPSG:25832, EPSG:3034, EPSG:3035, EPSG:3857, EPSG:4258, EPSG:4326

Filtering from the description

OGC Filter Encoding (FES 2.0)

PropertyIsEqualToPropertyIsNotEqualToPropertyIsLessThanPropertyIsGreaterThanPropertyIsLessThanOrEqualToPropertyIsGreaterThanOrEqualToPropertyIsLikePropertyIsBetweenPropertyIsNullEqualsDisjointTouchesWithinOverlapsCrossesIntersectsContainsDWithinBeyondBBOXDuring

Parameters 6

`typeNames`	which layer: natura2000:natura2000	from the description
`outputFormat`	e.g. application/json for GeoJSON	from the description
`srsName`	projection, e.g. EPSG:4326 for web maps (default EPSG:28992, RD)	from the description
`count / startIndex`	paging	from the description
`filter`	FES XML filter on fields or geometry	from the description
`bbox`	box in the chosen projection	platform

Fields 11 · natura2000:natura2000

Name	Type	Meaning
`geom`	geometrie
`naamN2K`	string
`vhnNew`	integer
`nr`	integer
`beschermin`	string
`sitecodeV`	string
`sitecodeH`	string
`status`	string
`kadaster`	string
`staatscour`	string
`fuuid`	string

Limits and pitfalls

At most 1,000 features per request (CountDefault). from the description
Paging supported: count and startIndex (ImplementsResultPaging). from the description
A single feature with geometry is easily tens of KB (Coepelduynen: 24 KB); all 209 features together are over 22 MB as GeoJSON. For the whole country, use the GeoPackage (9.3 MB). tested
propertyName does not drop the geometry in this service: even without geom in the list, the full boundary is returned. tested
209 features for 162 sites (unique nr). Merge on nr for counts per site. tested
The status field is free text with the decision, for example 'Natura 2000-besluit 7 mei 2013, wijzigingsbesluit okt 2014'. There is no separate date field. tested
The OGC API at api.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/ogc/v1 uses different field names (naam_n2k) and can only filter on naam_n2k. tested

Try it HTTP 200 · 231 ms · 16 Oct

https://service.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/wfs/v1_0?request=GetFeature&service=WFS&version=2.0.0&typeNames=natura2000:natura2000&outputFormat=application/json&srsName=EPSG:4326&count=1

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "name": "natura2000",
  "crs": {
    "type": "name",
    "properties": {
      "name": "urn:ogc:def:crs:OGC:1.3:CRS84"
    }
  },
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "id": "n2000.5c1f50be-f452-456f-9cd6-f3dd701a099d",
      "properties": {
        "naamN2K": "Coepelduynen",
        "vhnNew": 2,
        "nr": 96,
        "beschermin": "HR",
        "sitecodeV": " ",
        "sitecodeH": "NL1000030",
        "status": "Natura 2000-besluit 2010",
        "kadaster": "OZ4 57913/192",
        "staatscour": "2009/19769"
      },
      "bbox": [
        4.399701367692577,
        52.20862343692667
      ],
      "geometry": {
        "type": "MultiPolygon",
        "coordinates": "…"
      }
    }
  ],
  "bbox": [
    4.39970136769258,
    52.2086234369267
  ]
}

Shortened response, saved at harvest time. Click the URL for the real, current response.

Read from GetCapabilities: layers, projections, formats, filters, limit · DescribeFeatureType: fields of natura2000:natura2000. Labels: from the description stated in what the api itself publishes. tested from our own small call. platform applies to every api on this platform, per its documentation. experience learned while building open data index.

How to fetch it

curl -o natura2000.gpkg "https://service.pdok.nl/rvo/natura2000/atom/downloads/natura2000.gpkg"