Wild Birds

Introduction

The EU's rich diversity of over 500 wild bird species has been facing severe threats for a long time. Urban sprawl and transport networks have fragmented and reduced bird habitats, intensive agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the use of pesticides have diminished their food supplies, and there has been a need to regulate hunting to ensure that it does not damage populations. According to the latest scientific studies, 43% of Europe's bird species are threatened or facing serious declines and therefore not in a good conservation status. Already back in the 1970s, Europe's leaders saw the need for a comprehensive system for bird protection - at the European level in recognition that birds migrate freely across borders and are a valuable part of our shared natural heritage. The result was the Wild Birds Directive , which was adopted on 2 April 1979.

The Birds Directive has created a far-reaching protection scheme for all of Europe's wild birds, identifying 192 species and sub-species (listed in Annex I) as particularly threatened and in need of special conservation measures. In order to target energy and resources effectively the European Commission has supported the development of action plans for Europe's most threatened species. So far, Species Action Plans for 47 of Europe's most threatened birds have been finalised and are being implemented with the support of EU funds, in particular from the LIFE programme. As a result, the decline of some of the targeted species has already been halted.

For a long time, hunters did not see any need for hunting to be regulated, while bird conservationists believed that the Directive's hunting rules did not go far enough. Today, most hunters are aware that it is in their interest to have healthy viable populations. On 12 October 2004, the two main organisations representing hunters and bird conservationists in Europe, the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE) and BirdLife International, signed an agreement on sustainable hunting in which they affirmed their commitment to the objectives of the Birds Directive.

In recent years there have been heightened concerns that wild birds play a role in the spread of avian influenza. Since the emergence of the problem posed by the spread of the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza the Commission has worked very closely with the Member States to put in place an effective response and preparedness strategy. This has involved supporting the compilation of scientific information on the movements and distribution of wild bird species in Europe.

LIFE for Birds

"25 years of the Birds Directive - the contribution of LIFE-Nature projects" (pdf 3,7MB)