With this in mind, the EU can be
seen as a body helping to make sure everyone is working with the same standards,
and towards the same targets within environmental policy. In being part of the wider
European network, individual states are under tighter pressure to keep pace
with the rest, and comply with higher standards of environmental legislation. The
European Commission can investigate complaints of breach of the Directive. Key
sectors such as agriculture and fisheries which make a major impact on the
environment are managed through common EU policies.
In premise, this is good news for the environment. Now I will use an
example piece of EU environmental legislation - The Nature Directives, and try to briefly explain the purposes of
these policies in a European context.
(From Kipper Williams Christmas Cards 2011)
What are The Nature
Directives?
The Birds Directive (1979) was the first major EU law to address the issue of
nature conservation and management on an international scale. In recognition of
wide-scale wild bird declines, this policy was created to protect, maintain and
promote healthy populations of all wild birds across their natural ranges.
Firstly, the directive necessitates a huge amount of baseline data to be
collected on wild bird populations – numbers, trends, movements, general
ecology and current threats. Using this, conservation actions can then be
identified, including the designation of important habitats called Special Protection
Areas (SPAs; assigned based on scientific criteria), and the creation of international
action plans for bird species of particular conservation concern (those listed
under “Annex 1”). The directive also details the laws by which certain species may
be hunted and traded.
The Habitats Directive (1992) aims to promote the maintenance of natural
biodiversity, and also encourage management of landscape features facilitating
the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of wild species. Around 1000
animal and plant species, as well as 230 habitat types are protected by The
Habitats Directive. EU member states must maintain or restore natural habitats
and wild species of European interest
(those listed on the Annexes) at a favourable conservation status (more about
definitions of words like “favourable” later), by establishing suitable protected
wildlife areas called Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
Fig. 1. Areas in Europe currently protected under The Natura 2000
Network
(sourced from ec.europa.eu/environment/.../20yrs_brochure.pdf)
Together, SACs and
SPAs help to form a coherent ecological network of protected sites across the 28
Member States of The European Union, known as “Natura 2000”, which receives
funding from The LIFE Programme. The
latest Habitats Directive report from The European Commission boasts that over 26,000
protected sites have so far been designated for Natura 2000, covering about 17.5% of Europe’s total land and sea area,
or an area of the equivalent size of the U.K (see figure 1). Member States are
also required to produce regular reports on the progress made with implementing
the directives, every 6 years for The Habitats Directive, and every 2 years for
The Birds Directive.
Protecting Europe’s
Birds
Europe is home to over 520
regularly occurring wild bird species, of which around 53 (10%) have a status
of global conservation concern. Since its commencement, The Birds Directive has
helped designate over 3,600 SPAs –sites specifically targeted to protect birds.
Today, BirdLife International plays a
major role in collecting bird data and identifying suitable protected sites for
birds – called Important Bird Areas (IBAs). The value of the IBA inventory as a
‘shadow list’ of SPAs has been recognised by the European Court of Justice and
the European Commission, and the IBA selection criteria is now viewed as a
global model.
Fig. 2. Most designated SPAs in Europe overlap well with BirdLife
International’s IBAs (http://www.birdlife.org/eubiodiversityreport2012/?page_id=3511)
However, according to
latest figures many of Europe’s bird populations are still in decline. An assessment in 1994 estimated that 25% of
all European bird species were undergoing substantial population declines. A
more recent analysis in 2004 that used data spanning a 30-year period, found
that of 148 of Europe’s common bird species, 39% have declined across 25
European countries. Farmland birds have fared particularly badly, with 300
million fewer birds today than in 1980, with the greatest decline rates in the
late 1970s and early 1980s.
Fig.3. The Wild Bird Index for Europe 1980–2010
Stay tuned for more detailed case studies from here
in Portugal and Madeira, of some beneficial impacts of environmental policies
to birds.
Teresa
References
Publications:
Deinet, S. et
al. (2013) Wildlife comeback in Europe:
The recovery of selected mammal and bird species. Final report to
Rewilding Europe by ZSL, BirdLife International and the European Bird Census Council. London, UK: ZSL.
European Commission: LIFE Focus / LIFE for Birds. 25 years of the Birds Directive: the
contribution of LIFE Nature projects.
RSPB: Law of the Wild: The European Birds Directive, meeting
the challenge for birds and people.
Scheuer, S. (Ed) (2005). EU Environmental Policy Handbook, A critical Analysis
of EU Environmental Legislation – making it accessible to environmentalists and
decision makers. p344. Brussels: European
Environmental Bureau.
Online information:
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