It hosts the General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDEP), which shares responsibility for management of Natura 2000 sites in national forests with the LP. To ensure that this co-operation is mutually beneficial, clarification of rules and responsibilities is urgently needed. The area administered by the LP has steadily increased. It now amounts to more than three-quarters of the total forest area, and the LP is the largest manager of public forest in the European Union.