According to the report on the state of nature in the EU published on Monday 19 October by the European Environment Agency, the main causes of the drastic decline in Europe's biodiversity, which threatens the survival of thousands of animal species and habitats, are unsustainable agriculture and forestry, urban sprawl and pollution.
This assessment highlights an alarming situation and also points to poor implementation by Member States of EU legislation to protect nature.
For example, a majority of EU-wide protected species, including the Saker falcon and Danube salmon, and habitats - from grasslands to dunes - face an uncertain future unless more urgent action is taken to reverse the trend.
Habitats and birds are under the greatest threat.
“As many as 81% of habitats at EU level are in poor condition, with peat bogs, grasslands and dunes being the most degraded. We urgently need to deliver on the commitments made under the new EU Biodiversity Strategy to reverse this decline for the benefit of nature, people, climate and the economy”, said Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
Although the EU has achieved global conservation targets with its Natura 2000 network covering around 18% of its land area and almost 10% of its marine area, most protected habitats and species have a poor or bad conservation status and many continue to decline.
The report also notes positive developments: a number of species and habitats have seen improvements, including the agile frog in Sweden, coastal lagoons in France, the bearded vulture at EU level and coastal and dune habitats.
The report can be found at: https://bit.ly/2T5L7Ou (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)