Editing Special Protection Area (section)

{{short description|Type of protected areas in the European Union defined by the Birds Directive}}
A '''special protection area''' ('''SPA''') is a designation under the [[European Union]] [[Birds Directive|Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds]]. Under the Directive, Member States of the [[European Union]] (EU) have a duty to safeguard the [[habitat (ecology)|habitats]] of [[Bird migration|migratory birds]] and certain particularly threatened birds. Together with [[Special Area of Conservation|special areas of conservation]] (SACs), the SPAs form a network of protected sites across the EU, called [[Natura 2000]]. Each SPA has an EU code – for example the North Norfolk Coast SPA has the code ''UK9009031''.<ref name=EUBirdDir>{{cite web | title = The Birds Directive | work = Environment | publisher = [[European Union]] | url = http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/birdsdirective/index_en.htm}}</ref>