An EU vision for biodiversity protection beyond 2010

The European Commission has published a new Communication to start the debate on a renewed vision and target for combating biodiversity loss beyond 2010. This comes as the EU acknowledges that, despite some areas of progress - helped by initiatives such as LIFE and the 2006 EU Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) - it has not achieved the objective outlined in 2001 of halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2010.

The new Communication, Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010, restates the case for biodiversity protection, highlights current trends, sets out the need for a vision for biodiversity up to 2050 and suggests possible targets for 2020. It warns that “global biodiversity remains under severe threat, with losses occurring at 100 to 1 000 times the normal rate. More than a third of species assessed are facing extinction and an estimated 60% of the Earth’s ecosystems have been degraded in the last 50 years...”. The Commission also commits itself to presenting an EU biodiversity strategy by the end of 2010.

The Communication was launched at the Spanish EU Presidency conference in Madrid, 26-27 January 2010, on “Post-2010 Biodiversity Vision and Target - The role of Protected Areas and Ecological Networks in Europe”. The event aimed to propose a target and its conclusions called for “Europe to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services, and restore them significantly, by 2020.″ It identified ten specific priorities for biodiversity policy.

These European efforts aim to fit and feed into the wider debate on a global post-2010 target and strategy on biodiversity. In this context, the United Nations has made 2010 its International Year of Biodiversity under the slogan “Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.”

The LIFE programme and biodiversity

The LIFE programme has generated substantial learning and innovation, and achieved some success in the fight against biodiversity loss in Europe. Projects have used a variety of techniques to protect important habitats - as diverse as forests and the marine environment – and species. The programme has contributed to improving the conservation status of an impressive range of endangered biodiversity.

A key feature of many projects has been the establishment or extension of conservation areas. Two LIFE projects - LIFE04 NAT/ES/000049 and LIFE04 NAT/P/000213 - defined innovative Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the marine environment in Spain and Portugal. As well as providing protection for the species directly covered by the IBAs, the projects established a model methodology for creating marine IBAs elsewhere.

In a different context, a Romanian project - LIFE05 NAT/RO/000176 - has been working towards the designation of Natura 2000 sites for forest, sub-alpine and alpine habitats through the identification of Sites of Community Interest. Management plans are an important feature of this and other projects.

Numerous projects have worked directly to restore habitats. An Austrian LIFE project - LIFE00 NAT/A/007053 - restored free-flowing river habitats that had been negatively affected by flood-protection measures. Further special measures, including the creation of ponds and the use of insect-friendly lamps, favoured threatened species of dragonfly, amphibians and birds.

LIFE projects have also been at the forefront of testing new methodologies for the conservation on biodiversity. For example, a Spanish project - LIFE04 ENV/ES/000269 - tested innovative sustainable agriculture techniques in wetland habitats. The information provided by the project shows how the needs of agriculture and biodiversity can be met simultaneously and sustainably.

Work with local stakeholders has often been an important element of projects working to protect biodiversity. The Portuguese project - LIFE03 NAT/P/000013 - has been working with farmers, administrators, legislators and the local population to introduce new practices for the management of laurel trees, which provide the essential conditions for the survival of the critically endangered Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina).