EU biodiversity rescue plan unveiled

ENDS Europe DAILY 2102, 22/05/06

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The European commission presented a new EU action plan to achieve the bloc's target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 on Monday - the international day for biodiversity. The plan sets out concrete initiatives and targets at community and national level to 2010 and beyond.

The new action plan is intended to complement a 1998 EU biodiversity strategy (EED 04/02/98 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/2381) and 2001 action plans (EED 29/03/01 http://www.endseuropedaily.com/9623). A communication accompanying the new plan acknowledges that implementation of these measures "has been insufficient". It is still possible to halt EU biodiversity loss by 2010, the communication stresses, but efforts must be urgently accelerated.

The plan proposes actions and targets in four main areas: biodiversity in the EU, global biodiversity, biodiversity and climate change, and improving the knowledge base. Within the EU, its key objective is to finalise the Natura 2000 network, particularly within the marine environment and new member states, and provide it with adequate financing. A second important aim is to integrate biodiversity concerns into other policy areas, including the Lisbon agenda, rural development and agriculture, and regional development.

Globally, the commission accepts that there is "little chance" of meeting a target agreed by 130 world leaders in 2002 to significantly reducing biodiversity loss by 2010. Nonetheless, the EU must do more to promote global biodiversity protection through its international initiatives on governance, trade and development, the action plan states. The EU's main target for limiting the impact of climate change on biodiversity will be to meet its Kyoto protocol commitments, while to improve the knowledge base on biodiversity, the commission will establish an EU mechanism for science-based policy development.

Presenting the action plan, environment commissioner Stavros Dimas warned that continued biodiversity loss would seriously threaten "ecosystem services", including foods, fibres and medicines, worth an estimated E26 trillion per year. "In certain respects biodiversity loss presents a greater threat to mankind than climate change, as once species become extinct we can't bring them back," he said.

Mr Dimas promised annual reports from the commission on implementation of the action plan, adding that while progress would initially depend on the enforcement of existing legislation, future measures to achieve the 2010 target had not been ruled out.

Environmental group EEB welcomed the communication as a timely reminder of the urgency required to meet the EU's 2010 objective, and praised the action plan for setting out "in great detail" the necessary steps. A spokesperson for the "Countdown 2010" campaign described the communication as a milestone towards the 2010 target, but warned that saving biodiversity is "is not only about creating new instruments, but also implementing existing legislation".

Follow-up: European commission http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm, tel: +32 2 299 1111. See also commission's biodiversity pages http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature_biodiversity/index_en.htm, press release http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/667 and memo http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/212. Article Index: agriculture, biodiversity, climate, marine, space/land