Evoluzione del contesto della Città metropolitana di Cagliari in riferimento ai siti Natura 2000

The Metropolitan City of Cagliari, recently established, includes 17 municipalities for a catchment area of around 430,000 inhabitants mainly concentrated in the central part and along the coastal zone. In the metropolitan area there are important environmental elements of great importance that makes the Metropolitan City of Cagliari representative of close interaction between natural and man-made environment, in in constant equilibrium. Sixteen of the Natura 2000 Sites have been rec- ognized within this area starting from 2000, and evolutionary dynamics have been responsible for that some of these sites have been and still are threatened by human pressures. To better under- stand this phenomena, this paper proposes an analysis about settlements within the perimeter of the sites, that are protected by the European legislation. This analysis shows which Natura 2000 Sites are included where the human presence is growing, and for these parts, consequently, more atten- tion has to be addressed during the planning. The knowledge of evolutionary dynamics provides a useful support to identify potential and ongoing issues and, consequently, in the planning and in the management of the metropolitan environment, through the sustainable integration between human activities and the natural environment.