Posted on February, 13 2019

With only five months left for the European Commission to take decisive action to implement and enforce the Nature Directives, WWF, Birdlife Europe, European Environment Bureau and Friends of the Earth Europe are urging Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella to dramatically step up efforts to save nature.

The Birds and Habitats Directives are widely recognised as the cornerstone of EU-wide efforts to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity and fundamental to achieving the targets of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. Implementation and enforcement are still lacking however, with much of Europe’s biodiversity still in decline; only 23% of animal and plant species, and 16% of habitat types, protected under the Habitats Directives are in a favourable condition.
 
WWF with partner NGOs published a policy brief that highlights 5 key actions for Commissioner Vella:

1. Push EU Member States to fully implement the Nature Directives
2. Dramatically step up enforcement of the Nature Directives
3. Urge Member States to implement and not revise the Water Framework Directive
4. Push EU Member States to complete the designation of the marine Natura 2000 network and ensure its effective management
5. Negotiating an environmentally ambitious reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

 
There is still time left for Commissioner Vella to save precious nature sites, such as the Kresna Gorge in Bulgaria, Limni in Cyprus and Lake Koroneia in Greece, and leave a lasting legacy for nature.