27/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Loss of biodiversity is costing a fortune. In addition to the financial crisis, there is a silent crisis of biodiversity loss costing the EU €450 billion annually, according to Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, Netherlands), European Parliament special rapporteur on biodiversity. His draft report presented to the environment committee on 24 January calls for the “No Net Loss” principle - that those who cause damage to nature must compensate the loss - to be applied. “A quarter of the plants and animals in Europe are in danger of extinction. This destruction of nature will cost about 3% annual economic growth - equivalent to that which Europe needs at present to rescue the euro”, he points out. “Natural capital needs to be integrated into the national accounts”, he believes. (AN/transl.rt)