An EU vision for biodiversity protection beyond 2010

The European Commission has published a new Communication to start the debate on a renewed vision and target for combating biodiversity loss beyond 2010. This comes as the EU acknowledges that, despite some areas of progress - helped by initiatives such as LIFE and the 2006 EU Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) - it has not achieved the objective outlined in 2001 of halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2010.

The new Communication,  Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010, restates the case for biodiversity protection, highlights current trends, sets out the need for a vision for biodiversity up to 2050 and suggests possible targets for 2020. It warns that “global biodiversity remains under severe threat, with losses occurring at 100 to 1 000 times the normal rate. More than a third of species assessed are facing extinction and an estimated 60% of the Earth’s ecosystems have been degraded in the last 50 years...”. The Commission also commits itself to presenting an EU biodiversity strategy by the end of 2010.

The Communication was launched at the Spanish EU Presidency conference in Madrid, 26-27 January 2010, on “Post-2010 Biodiversity Vision and Target - The role of Protected Areas and Ecological Networks in Europe”. The event aimed to propose a target and its  conclusions called for “Europe to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services, and restore them significantly, by 2020.″ It identified ten specific priorities for biodiversity policy.

These European efforts aim to fit and feed into the wider debate on a global post-2010 target and strategy on biodiversity. In this context, the United Nations has made 2010 its  International Year of Biodiversity under the slogan “Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.”

 Quelle  (Zugriff am 1. März 2010)