Natura 2000 (N2K) is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, as well as for some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right. It stretches across all 28 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The aim of the network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats that are listed under the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. This dataset contains the sites in Belgium.

Top10Vector – Land cover and vegetation is the vector data set of the land use of unbuilt land areas in Belgium. This data set includes three classes. First class: dry and unbuilt areas or areas not used as roads. Second class: hedges. Third class: linear vegetation. This data set can be bought via the corresponding hyperlink.

This dataset represents the exact location of active telecommunication cables (verified in 2010) installed in the Belgian Part of the North Sea.

The data set contains a seamless polygonal layer representing the land cover in Belgium for the year 2012 and the year 2018. The polygons are spread over 32 classes from the CORINE Land Cover legend which are present un Belgium. The minimum map unit is 25 ha. The conceptual scale is 1:100 000. The data set also contains a polygon layer showing changes of more than 5 ha in the land cover between 2012 and 2018.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 20 shipping and ports zones: Shipping regular regime (Art. 10§1), Northbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'Noordhinder Sud' (Art. 10§2.1°), Separation zone 'Noordhinder Sud' (Art. 10§2.1°), Precaution zone 'Near Thornton and Blighbank ' (Art. 10§2.10°), Northbound traffic flow starting at separation zone 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Separation zone 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Southbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'Off Noordhinder' (Art. 10§2.2°), Precaution zone 'Noordhinder Jonction' (Art. 10§2.3°), Eastbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Eastbound traffic flow starting at separation zone 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Precaution zone 'At West Hinder ' (Art. 10§2.4°), Separation zone 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Westbound traffic flow starting at separation line 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.4°), Area to be Avoided 'At West Hinder' (Art. 10§2.6°), Deep water route 'Westerschelde approach' (Art. 10§2.7°), Border line 1 of two-way shipping lane 'Westpit' (Art. 10§2.8°), Border line 2 of two-way shipping lane 'Westpit' (Art. 10§2.8°), Precaution zone 'At Gootebank' (Art. 10§2.9°), Anchoring zone 'Oostdyck' (Art. 10§3.1°), Anchoring zone 'Westhinder' (Art. 10§3.2°). It replaces the 2014 Marine Spatial Plan, which is included for completeness. The Royal Decree of 20 March 2014 establishing a marine spatial plan defines in its Art. 9, nine zones with regards to shipping and ports: seven shipping zones (Shipping regular regime, Art. 9 § 1; Shipping route Northhinder South, Art. 9 § 2.1°; Shipping route Northhinder junction, Art. 9 § 2.2°; Shipping route Westhinder, Art. 9 § 2.3°; Shipping route Westhinder precautionary area, Art. 9 § 2.4°; Shipping route Westhinder area to be avoided, Art. 9 § 2.5°; Deep water shipping route Western Scheldt approach, Art. 9 § 2.6°) and two anchorage places (Anchorage place 'Oostdyck', Art. 9 § 4.1° and Anchorage place 'Westhinder', Art. 9 § 4.2°). These zones are made available digitally in the resource described by this metadata document. Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

The product is made of 5 "high resolution layers" covering all the Belgian territory as part of a European-wide coverage for the reference year 2015. The 5 layers concern 4 distinct themes: Imperviousness, Forest, Grasslands, Wetness and Water. The 5 layers were produced by an automatic classification based on satellite images and collateral data and achieved by private companies (EEA service providers), and they were verified by Belgium. At the Belgian level, verification and enhancements were made by IV for the northern part and SPW for the outhern part. The NGI coordinated the project. Data was produced with funding by the European Union. Copyright Copernicus Programme DISCLAIMER: National Geographic Institute has undertaken to distribute the data on behalf of EEA under Specific Contract No 3436/R0-Copernicus/EEA.57005 implementing Framework service contract No EEA/IDM/R0/16/009/Belgium. National Geographic Institute accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the content and use of these data.” The European Environment Agency accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information on this site and the information does not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the EEA or other European Communities bodies and institutions.

Riparian zones represent transitional areas occurring between land and freshwater ecosystems, characterised by distinctive hydrology, soil and biotic conditions and strongly influenced by the stream water. They provide a wide range of riparian functions (e.g. chemical filtration, flood control, bank stabilization, aquatic life and riparian wildlife support, etc.) and ecosystem services. The Riparian Zones products will support the objectives of several European legal acts and policy initiatives, such as the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Water Framework Directive. Two complementary product groups provide detailed information on the state and characteristics of riparian zones across Belgium: 1. Land Cover / Land Use (LCLU) 2. Green Linear Elements (GLE)

The Copernicus Urban Atlas (UA) provides European, comparable and detailed land use and land cover maps for the main Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). The Urban Atlas Street Tree Layer (UA-STL) is a separate layer of the Urban Atlas 2012. It includes contiguous rows or patches of trees covering 500 m² or more with a minimum width of 10 m within the urban mask of the Urban Atlas 2012. Gaps between tree patches or within a larger patch that are less than 10m wide are included in the Street Tree Layer. There is no thematic content other than the presence or absence of trees. The UA-STL is a new product and no accuracy threshold was provided as part of the Urban Atlas specifications. The UA STL product validated currently covers just over 7% of the total UA2012 area.

The Royal Decree of 22 May 2019 establishing a marine spatial plan defines 5 commercial and industrial zones: Zone A for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone B for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone C for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone D for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1), Zone E for commercial and industrial activities (Art. 23§1). Please refer to the Belgian official gazette (\"Moniteur belge/Belgisch Staatsblad\") for official reference information.

INSPIRE compliant download service (WFS) for geographic information of the Marine Spatial Plan made available by the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS).