In the EU it is listed in the Habitats Directive and it is a characteristic species of the Pannonian biogeographic region.
The species is listed on Annex II and Annex IV of the European Union Habitats Directive; the latter gives it strict protection within the EU member countries.
Lucanus cervus is registered in the second appendix of the Habitats Directive of the European Union from 1992, which requires that member states set aside Special Areas of Conservation.
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Owing to its Europe-wide conservation status, this plant has been included in the Bern Convention, and subsequently listed in Annex II of the EU Flora–Fauna Directive—Natura 2000.
The Ehrenbürg is located in the west of the twin natural protected areas of Ehrenbürg and Katzenköpfe, designated under the Habitats Directive of the European Union, and which are coterminous with the local extent of the bird protection area (Important Bird Area) Felsen- und Hangwälder in der Fränkischen Schweiz (cliffs and forested slopes of Little Switzerland).
The six km-long Saale-Elster viaduct crosses some meadows in the Saale and the Weiße Elster valleys between Schkopau and Halle that are part of a protected area under the European Union’s Habitats Directive.
It officially became a botanical and zoological reserve in 1969 and has since become protected by the EU Habitats Directive and Birds Directive.
Responsibility for the upkeep of Killykeen is through the state's commercial forestry service Coillte together with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) where Lough Oughter and its associated loughs are protected under the EU Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) for wildlife and particularly wintering birds.