Five years left to tackle Europe's wildlife crisis
As the European Commission's latest assessment of nature is published, the RSPB has warned that Europe's wildlife remains in crisis.
At the end of last week, the mid-term review of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy showed limited progress towards many of the key targets to restore wildlife which were set at the start of the decade, and time is running out.
The RSPB is urging the European Commission (EC) to take fast action to reverse the decline in wildlife numbers, as many species such as Balearic Shearwater, Kittiwake and Black-tailed Godwit remain listed as being under the threat of extinction within the European Union (EU).
A bright spot in the otherwise gloomy review is the success of the EU's nature directives, which are helping to underpin the favourable conservation status of several threatened species, including birds of prey, Dalmatian Pelican, Iberian Lynx and Mediterranean Monk Seal.
Dalmatian Pelican, Turkey (Photo: Mustafa Sozen)
The EC's review matches warnings from the RSPB and BirdLife International earlier this year that the Continent's nature remains in crisis and needs urgent action to save it. In June, the organisations published a review entitled Halfway There? that highlighted the need to do more to tackle the ecological crisis facing wildlife, especially those species reliant on agricultural habitats across Western Europe. There have been huge reductions in the number of farmland birds, such as shrikes, storks, Skylarks and buntings, in the EU since 1980 and these negative trends show no sign of reversing.
RSPB Conservation Director Martin Harper said: "This review sadly confirms our analysis that the EU's formerly splendid wildlife tapestry is becoming increasingly threadbare, with many of the greatest holes appearing because of intensive agriculture. We remain anxious that Europe is not on track to protect its wildlife. However, the review does confirm that when the Birds and Habitats Directives are properly implemented, they play a pivotal role in the recovery of threatened species."
The RSPB and BirdLife Europe are urging the EC to realise the value of the Nature Directives within the European Commission's Fitness Check: a process reviewing the effectiveness of these laws.
Harper added: "The time to save Europe's nature is running out rapidly. The EU still has time to address the erosion of Europe's nature by encouraging more sustainable, nature-friendly forms of farming and ensuring that the Nature Directives aren't weakened."
A Nature Alert campaign, led by BirdLife Europe and other conservation organisations, encouraged more than half a million people to call on the European Commission to maintain and fully implement the nature directives. The consultation ran between April and the end of July.
