Meetings to consider biodiversity loss have been briefed on the need to increase efforts to address the problem.

The fourth Intergovernmental Conference “Biodiversity in Europe” and the tenth meeting of the Council of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy were held from 22-24 February 2006, in Lake Plitvice National Park, Croatia. Participants considered issues on the agenda of the upcoming eighth Conference of the Parties to the CBD, focusing on island biodiversity, communication, education and public awareness, and the Global Taxonomy Initiative. The meeting also explored the status of implementation of the biodiversity commitments in the European region, including strategic issues for evaluating progress, such as the European 2010 biodiversity indicators, forest biodiversity, agriculture, protected areas and ecological networks, and invasive alien species.
Officials from 40 European governments and 32 environmental organizations recognized the need to redouble their efforts if they are to achieve the goal agreed in Kiev in 2003 of halting the decline in Europe’s biological diversity by 2010. They noted that, despite many positive developments, biodiversity continues to decline at a rapid pace throughout Europe. The meeting agreed to step up regional cooperation and strengthen partnerships with the forestry, agriculture and other economics-driven sectors, and stressed the need to inform the public about the many economic benefits derived from biodiversity. One of the meeting’s highlights was the opening of the Museum of Culture and Nature of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
A report prepared for the meeting by the Countdown 2010 Secretariat concluded that Europe is performing poorly on seven out of eight indicators of impact on biodiversity, including forests, agriculture and invasive alien species, with global warming, urbanization and pollution identified as major challenges. Protected areas was the only measure indicating positive developments, as the report found that there has been a significant increase in coverage of protected areas over the past decade, although efforts are needed to increase protected area coverage in marine ecosystems and to ensure the effective management of protected areas.
Another report, published by the European Environmental Bureau, found that the slow application of the Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment, aimed at ensuring that the environmental consequences of big plans and development projects are carefully assessed during their preparation, could undermine Europe’s objective to stop the loss of its biodiversity by 2010. Finally, a new WWF report shows that vast sums of EU money are spent on roads, dams and irrigation schemes which threaten critically endangered species and key habitats in Europe. In many cases, EU funds are being used for activities that are recognized as major threats by the EU itself.
Links to further information
The Strategy Guide web site
Ministry of Culture – Republic of Croatia
Europeans seek funds and political will to save biodiversity, Environment News Service, 27 February 2006
Convention on Biological Diversity, 22 February 2006
Europe gets poor marks in halting species loss, Reuters News Service, 21 February 2006
UNEP/Council of Europe report regarding Pan-European progress to meeting the 2010 goal relating to biodiversity loss, February 2006
Slow application of SEA Directive undermines EU efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010, European Environmental Bureau press release, 23 February 2006
European Environmental Bureau, Biodiversity in Strategic Environmental Assessment: Quality of national transposition and application of the SEA Directive, December 2005
World’s most endangered cat species threatened by EU funds, WWF press release, 3 March 2006
WWF, Conflicting EU Funds: pitting conservation against unsustainable development, 2006