July 01, 2009

Council expresses Biodiversity concerns


The findings of last year's European Commission report on the implementation of the EU's Biodiversity Action Plan revealed that the Union is far from meeting its target of halting biodiversity decline by 2010 and EU Environment Ministers, at their 25 June Council meeting, discussed with concern, the plan's mid-term assessment.

In particular, Ministers have now suggested examining the impact of EU rural development and fisheries policies on biodiversity. This is in line with recent calls from the European Environment Agency (EEA) reiterating the need for biodiversity protection measures to be integrated into agricultural, forestry and fisheries policies. The EEA has also been emphasising the need for a move towards better ''ecosystem accounting'' to indicate the true value of the natural capital depleted by economic activity in the pricing of goods and services.

Ministers have now responded by suggesting that the worth of valuable resources and processes supplied by nature to society and the economy, such as clean drinking water and decomposition of waste (''ecosystem services''), need to be factored into national policies in order to appreciate the extent of the challenge biodiversity is
facing. They have also suggested that greater analysis of the environmental impact of consumption of products including meat is necessary. Ministers are also proposing that an assessment of the effectiveness of the NATURA 2000 network of protected areas should take place.

Meanwhile, an EU strategy on invasive alien species (IAS) containing measures on prevention, early detection, warning and rapid response, monitoring and control, and restoration is to be prepared by 2010 on the basis of Commission proposals.

Council Conclusions
Biodiversity Action Plan Progress Report

Posted by iroronan at July 1, 2009 09:12 AM