The ‘Multi-scale Service for Monitoring Natura 2000 Habitats of European Community Interest (MS.MONINA)’ project is designed to develop new Earth Observation (EO)–based services for the cost-effective collection of information at different scales across the Natura 2000 network and beyond. The project’s design is unique in this sense as it integrates mapping approaches from the local to regional to European levels and addresses the reporting, monitoring and management needs of stakeholders at three scales: the individual local site, the Member State, and the EU. In this context, the National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture (Irstea) is developing a methodological framework for mapping of natural and semi-natural vegetation types across the French agricultural landscapes at a scale of 1/25000 using EO data. The service, under development, is tailored to lowland vegetation in open areas and is easily transferable to the different biogeographical regions characterizing the continental French territory (Continental, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Alpine).