Abstract Conservation plays a crucial role in maintaining and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems integrity. Its importance is underscored by several policy frameworks, including the Habitats Directive (HD; 92/43/CEE), which identifies habitats and species of Community Interest for which a “favourable conservation status” must be ensured. The conservation status (CS) of these habitats and species is evaluated every six years at the national level, following harmonised guidelines established at the European scale. In July 2025, Italy completed its updated assessment covering the 2019–2024 reporting period. This study presents the main findings of the assessment, focusing on the distribution and CS of the eight marine habitats and six marine invertebrate species listed under the HD. It then provides a critical evaluation of the methodology applied, highlighting key areas for improvement in future assessments. The results revealed limited changes in the distribution patterns compared to the previous assessment. The CS was favourable for most habitats and species, inadequate for three habitats and two species, unknown for two habitats, and bad for one species. Notable progress was achieved in the assessment of distributions, largely due to improved data availability resulting from new dedicated studies and monitoring campaigns. Conversely, much of the CS evaluation still relied on expert judgment rather than comprehensive surveys or quantitative estimates, primarily because of challenges in assessing habitats or species with wide ranges. Overall, this evaluation offers an updated overview of Italian protected marine biodiversity, providing essential support for identifying degraded habitats, as required by the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. Graphical abstract
Melchiori et al. (Sun,) studied this question.