Italian National Biodiversity Strategy Full text available in Italian on the website www.minambiente.it 1 Table of content Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 3 The Strategy’s Path .............................................................................................................. 7 The Implementation of the Strategy ................................................................................. 8 Duration, monitoring and evaluation of the Strategy Implementation ................................... 9 Evaluation Indicators ...................................................................................................... 9 Funding mechanisms for the implementation of the Strategy ............................................ 10 The Strategy Framework .................................................................................................... 12 Vision and Key Issues .................................................................................................. 12 Strategic Objectives ..................................................................................................... 12 Work areas ......................................................................................................................... 15 1. Species, habitats and landscape .................................................................................. 15 2. Protected Areas ........................................................................................................ 29 3. Genetic Resources .................................................................................................... 38 4. Agriculture .............................................................................................................. 44 5. Forests .................................................................................................................... 53 6. Inland waters ........................................................................................................... 60 7. Marine environment ................................................................................................. 66 8. Infrastructures and transportation ............................................................................... 77 9. Urban areas ............................................................................................................. 81 10. Health ................................................................................................................... 85 11. Energy ................................................................................................................... 90 12. Tourism ................................................................................................................. 94 13. Research and Innovation ......................................................................................... 99 14. Education, information, communication and participation ......................................... 105 15. Italy and global biodiversity .................................................................................. 111 Essential webbliography ..................................................................................................... 117 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................... 117 2 Introduction The development of a National Strategy for Biodiversity is part of the commitment un- dertaken by Italy after the ratification of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, Rio de Janeiro, 1992) by means of Law No. 124 of February 14, 1994. The Convention has the following three main objectives: . the conservation of biological diversity, at the levels of genes and species as well as communities and ecosystems; . the long-term or sustainable use of its components; . the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies. Article 6 of the CBD states that each Contracting Party shall, in accordance with its par- ticular conditions and capabilities, develop national strategies, plans or programs for the con- servation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Each Contracting Party shall also inte- grate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral plans, programs and policies. To better understand Italy’s policies on biodiversity conservation in the last decade, it is appropriate and important to take into account the process which led to the Communication from the European Commission: “Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 and beyond. Sustain- ing ecosystem services for human well–being”, COM (2006) 216, while retracing some mile- stones of EU environmental policy. The 2001 Gothenburg European Council stressed the need to take concrete action to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. This commitment was subsequently shared and reinforced by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) through the adoption of an action Plan aimed at significantly reducing the loss of biodiversity by 2010 (Objective 2010). In May 2004, participants of the EU Stakeholder Conference “Biodiversity and the EU - Sustaining Life, Sustaining Livelihoods” drafted and approved the Message from Malahide; during the Conference, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched Countdown 2010, an initiative aimed at raising the awareness of local governments and civil society about the need to achieve Objective 2010. Through COM (2006) 216, in response to the Message from Malahide, the European Commission has considered all relevant biodiversity issues thoroughly, by evaluating the soundness of the solutions proposed so far and creating the EU Action Plan “To 2010 and be- yond”. These documents highlight the need for an intersectoral biodiversity policy, based on the awareness of goods and services that biodiversity provides for human welfare and life's surviv- 3 al on the Planet. The European Action Plan has guided the activities of all EU countries in re- cent years. The actual results achieved in relation to the European objective of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 have shown that much remains to be done despite all the efforts and the successes achieved in several areas; in particular, the work done in recent years has demon- strated that the main challenge remains to effectively integrate the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into sectoral policies. In April 2009, the G8 Environment Ministers met in Syracuse, Italy, and held a session dedicated to the theme of Biodiversity after 2010. During the session, the Ministers approved the “Carta di Siracusa on Biodiversity”, a document that is entirely focused on biodiversity conservation in future national policies. On this occasion, Italy has become the promoter of a biodiversity vision that will be consciously included in future decisions and activities carried out by the Governments. The 21 Ministers who participated at the 2009 G8 Environment meeting agreed that: «[…] biodiversity loss and the consequent reduction and damaging of ecosystem services affect food security and water availability and reduce the capacity of biodiversity to miti- gate and adapt to climate change, as well as undermining global economic processes». «As significant economic loss arises due to the unsustainable use of biodiversity, timely and proper programs and actions, aimed at strengthening the resilience of ecosystems, must be taken». «A thorough communication strategy, fully engaging all the different sectors, as well as stakeholders, indigenous and local communities and the private sector, to emphasize their own participation and their responsibilities, is also a key factor for the effective implemen- tation of the post-2010 biodiversity framework». «The reform of environmental governance, at all levels, is essential to integrate biodiversi- ty and ecosystem services into all policies, to turn the current weaknesses in economic systems into opportunities and to boost sustainable development and employment […]». The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament COM (2010) 4 final dated January 19, 2010 has highlighted the five main shortcomings in the implementation of COM (2006) 216, attributable, to a varying extent, to the different Member States, which caused the failure of Objective 2010: . shortcomings in the implementation of Natura 2000 network: the sites of Natura 2000 network (Sites of Community Interest (SCIs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)) cover 17% of the EU’s territory (and up to 19% of the Italian territory). There have been delays and problems with implementation, especially insufficient human and financial resources allocated to this effort; 4 . political and strategic shortcomings: in particular, the policies on soils and invasive species require further development. So far, at EU level, related requirements of cross-compliance have been established under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); . data and knowledge gaps: despite the significant progress made, several gaps remain at all levels in biodiversity knowledge, information gathering and data as well as in the main threat factors; . shortcomings in the integration of biodiversity concerns into the various relevant economic sectors: many initiatives