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EU BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN: 2010 Assessment

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EU BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN: 2010 Assessment EU BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN: 2010 Assessment Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment 1 Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu) Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2010 ISBN 978-92-79-16248-0 doi : 10.2779/42306 © European Union, 2010 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged Printed in Belgium Printed on recycled paper that has been awarded the eu eco-label for graphic paper (http://ec.europa.eu/ecolabel) 2 Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Why is biodiversity important? ..................................................................................................................... 7 The state of biodiversity in the EU ................................................................................................................ 9 The 2010 Assessment of the EU Biodiversity Action Plan ......................................................................... 13 Objective 1: To safeguard the EU’s most important habitats and species ................................................................. 17 Objective 2: To conserve and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services in the wider EU countryside ................. 20 Objective 3: To conserve and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services in the wider EU marine environment .... 22 Objective 4: To reinforce the compatibility of regional and territorial development with biodiversity in the EU ...... 24 Objective 5: To substantially reduce the impact on EU biodiversity of invasive alien species ................................... 26 Objectives 6-7-8: To strengthen the EU’s role in combatting global biodiversity loss ....................................................... 28 Objective 9: ❦ To support biodiversity adaptation to climate change ........................................................................... 30 ❧ Objective 10: To substantially strengthen the knowledge base .................................................................................... 32 Supporting measures ................................................................................................................................... 34 Further reading ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Biodiversity Action Plan:❦ 2010 Assessment 3 ❦❧ The large blue butterfly, Maculinea arion, an endangered species protected under the Habitats Directive. 4 Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment Introduction In 2006, an EU Biodiversity Action Plan was drawn up by Up to 25% of European animal species are still at risk of the European Commission and subsequently endorsed by extinction and even common species continue to suffer the EU’s 27 Environment Ministers. Its aim was to set out a from a lack of suitable habitats outside protected areas. comprehensive programme of actions and targets which Urban sprawl, industrial development and new would enable the EU to meet its commitment to halt infrastructure continue to spread rapidly across Europe, biodiversity loss by 2010. often at the expense of the remaining natural areas. Four years on, the time has come to take stock of the Not only is Europe seeing the constant loss, degradation Biodiversity Action Plan and assess the impact it has had and fragmentation of natural habitats, but entire on Europe’s biodiversity. With this in mind, the ecosystems are also being pushed to the point of collapse. Commission carried out a detailed assessment of the The potential consequences are extremely serious. Our Action Plan reviewing the progress made on each of the economic and social well-being is heavily dependent 150 actions that make up the plan. An EU 2010 Biodiversity upon the continued flow of vital ‘ecosystem services’, but Baseline report was also produced by the European the benefits they bring to society are often overlooked. Environment Agency, providing the latest facts and figures on the state and trends of different biodiversity and This all points to the need to redouble our policy efforts ecosystems components in the EU. for biodiversity in the years to come and to ensure that biodiversity and the many ecosystem services it provides This brochure summarises the main findings of those are better integrated into all other EU policy areas so that two documents, and highlights the key achievements it becomes the foundation upon which we base our made under the ten key objectives of the 2006 EU economic development and social well-being. Biodiversity Action Plan. The experiences gathered from the implementation of the The main conclusion of the 2010 Assessment is that while 2006 EU Biodiversity Action Plan will be invaluable in this significant progress has been made in some areas, for respect and should serve as a useful springboard for a instance in the completion of the EU Natura 2000 Network more effective post-2010 EU Biodiversity Strategy. of protected areas, and in the reduction of pollution from point sources in freshwater bodies, the overall target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been reached. Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment 5 Nature provides many valuable services to humanity, such as clean water. 6 Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment Why is biodiversity important? Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth. It is made up of In the last century, humanity benefited enormously from the diversity of genes, the diversity of species and the economic development which enriched lives. However, diversity of entire ecosystems. By interacting with the much of this development has become associated with a physical environment, this diversity creates complex decline in the variety and extent of natural systems – of ecosystems that provide a vital life-support system for all biodiversity. living organisms, including humans. Part of the problem lies in the fact that although Biodiversity and ecosystems are important in their own humanity’s economic and social well-being is dependent right, but they also provide a vital stream of goods and on biodiversity and the continuous flow of the many services upon which we depend. We need food, fibre, fuel, ecosystem services it provides, these are generally medicines, and services such as climate regulation, flood considered to be predominantly public goods with no real prevention, water purification, pollination and soil economic value. The benefits nature brings to society are formation, because they are essential to our economic often overlooked and rarely taken into account in day-to- prosperity, security, health and quality of life. day decisions when trade-offs are involved. The loss of biodiversity is therefore much more than just As a result, our natural capital continues to be eroded, the loss of species. It also entails a reduction in the jeopardising our welfare and that of countless species and productivity and resilience of entire ecosystems. habitats. There is a limit to the extent human ingenuity Collapsing fish stocks, a widespread reduction in soil and technology can substitute for this loss. Once it has fertility, crashes in pollinator populations and a reduced passed, there can be no turning back. The cost of man floodwater retention capacity of our rivers are all made solutions can far exceed those of looking after consequences of this loss. biodiversity in the first place. Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment 7 Many of Europe’s remaining natural ecosystems are being squeezed out by other land uses. 8 Biodiversity Action Plan: 2010 Assessment The state of biodiversity in the EU Europe – a continent of contrasts Europe’s biodiversity under threat Despite its small size, Europe has astonishing biodiversity. Much But Europe’s biodiversity is in serious decline. The main of this results from the divergent climatic and topographic pressures and drivers are known. The principal cause is the conditions to be found here. These natural forces, combined destruction, degradation and fragmentation of habitats with centuries of human interaction, have created a complex resulting from land use changes. In the last 50 years Europe has and intricate patchwork of natural and semi-natural habitats, experienced significant land conversion, intensification of each containing a distinctive mix of plants and animals. While production systems, urban sprawl, infrastructure developments the number of species may not reach the levels found in other and the abandonment of traditional (often biodiversity– continents, many of Europe’s plants and animals are endemic friendly) practices. and therefore unique to this continent. Other key pressures include the over–exploitation of natural resources, the spread of invasive alien species and pollution. The effects of climate change are also being seen on biodiversity, with changes in species distribution, migration and reproductive patterns. On a global scale, Europe’s high consumption patterns and an increasing demand for natural resources are contributing to the demise of
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