What counts as near a protected area for disclosure B5 of the European Union (EU) voluntary standard for small companies (VSME)?

Near means your site partly overlaps a protected area or sits right next to one. The standard asks for the number and area in hectares of sites you own, lease or manage in or near biodiversity sensitive areas. VSME is the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group's Voluntary standard for non-listed micro-, small- and medium-sized undertakings.

The definition

The standard says near shall refer to an area that is partially overlapping or adjacent to a biodiversity sensitive area. It sets no distance in metres or kilometres. Our reading: a site 5 kilometres away is not covered by that sentence, but ask your buyer if it uses a distance rule of its own.

What is a biodiversity sensitive area

• The standard says these are defined by special nature protection rules at European or international level: the Natura 2000 network, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas.
• It also includes other protected areas designated as requiring special protection by government authorities, with forest-protected areas and areas within river basin districts as examples.
• Our reading: a government-designated protected forest or wildlife area in India fits that last group. Check with your buyer.

How to check your site

1. Mark each site you own, lease or manage on a map.
2. Look it up in the databases the standard names: the World Database on Protected Areas, the World Database on Key Biodiversity Areas, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, or the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool.
3. Write the result for each site, even if it is none.

What to write

The standard's table has four columns: location, area in hectares, biodiversity sensitive area, and a specification of whether the site is in or near it. If no site is in or near one, say so. The text we read does not give a separate wording for none.

What Senseible does here

Senseible fills the energy and emissions disclosure from fuel invoices and electricity bills. This disclosure is not part of it today; it comes from your own registers and papers.

• What is the VSME standard?
• How to give site coordinates
• Is my site in a high water stress area?

Sources: European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), Voluntary standard for non-listed micro-, small- and medium-sized undertakings (VSME), 2024 edition, 66 pages, paragraphs 33, 134 to 137

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. Facts are from the standard's own text, with the paragraph numbers named in the source line. The European Commission adopted its own standard for voluntary use in a Delegated Regulation of 3 July 2026, which is not in force until it is published in the Official Journal and may differ from this text, so ask your buyer which one it means. Our own readings are marked as such.