Search

Dragonflies and damselflies, within the order of Odonata, are important ecological indicators with widely recognised conservation value. They are generally better researched and protected than other invertebrates, yet, they have received limited protection from the European Union (EU)'s Habitats Directive, which serves as the major legislative tool for species conservation in Europe.We reviewed the conservation status and trends, legal protection status, and knowledge gaps of Odonates within the EU. Among the 22 threatened and 27 endemic species in EU, respectively 19 and 11 of them are not protected by the Directive. Out of the 35 species which are threatened and/or listed on the Annexes, 61.5% of them are declining.Nevertheless, threatened non‐Annex species are more likely to have a decreasing population trend than Annex species. There are also 26% of threatened non‐Annex species with unknown trends. Inaccuracies in evaluating Odonata trends are also revealed due to the lack of standardised methodology and incomplete surveys.Moreover, most conservation research focuses on climate change's effects on range shift, therefore knowledge gaps exist in understating how water and habitat qualities, the most important Odonate trend drivers, shape Odonata conservation status.There is an urgent need to revise the legal protection status of Odonata in Europe, for instance by revising the EU Habitats Directive Annexes to include threatened damselflies and dragonflies.There is also an urgent need for systematic, standardised, and regular survey to be able to investigate trends and drivers of change to identify priority conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing urbanization worldwide calls for more sustainable urban development. Simultaneously, the global biodiversity crisis accentuates the need of fostering biodiversity within cities. Policies supporting urban nature conservation need to understand people's acceptance of biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. We surveyed more than 2,000 people in 19 European cities about their attitudes toward near‐natural urban grassland management in public greenspaces, and related their responses to nine sociocultural parameters. Results reveal that people across Europe can support urban biodiversity, yet within the frames of a generally tidy appearance of public greenery. Younger people and those using greenspaces for a greater variety of activities were more likely to favor biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. Additionally, people who were aware of the meaning of biodiversity and those stating responsibility for biodiversity conservation particularly supported biodiversity‐friendly greenspace management. Our results point at explicit measures like environmental education to increase public acceptance of policies that facilitate nature conservation within cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) has recently published its first list of invasive alien species (IAS) of EU concern to which current legislation must apply. The list comprises species known to pose great threats to biodiversity and needs to be maintained and updated. Horizon scanning is seen as critical to identify the most threatening potential IAS that do not yet occur in Europe to be subsequently risk assessed for future listing. Accordingly, we present a systematic consensus horizon scanning procedure to derive a ranked list of potential IAS likely to arrive, establish, spread and have an impact on biodiversity in the region over the next decade. The approach is unique in the continental scale examined, the breadth of taxonomic groups and environments considered, and the methods and data sources used. International experts were brought together to address five broad thematic groups of potential IAS. For each thematic group the experts first independently assembled lists of potential IAS not yet established in the EU but potentially threatening biodiversity if introduced. Experts were asked to score the species within their thematic group for their separate likelihoods of i) arrival, ii) establishment, iii) spread, and iv) magnitude of the potential negative impact on biodiversity within the EU. Experts then convened for a 2‐day workshop applying consensus methods to compile a ranked list of potential IAS. From an initial working list of 329 species, a list of 66 species not yet established in the EU that were considered to be very high (8 species), high (40 species) or medium (18 species) risk species was derived. Here, we present these species highlighting the potential negative impacts and the most likely biogeographic regions to be affected by these potential IAS. We identified 66 species, that are currently absent from the EU, which pose a very high, high or medium threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. The species span a range of functional groups, with primary producers being numerically dominant. Escape from confinement is the pathway considered to be the most likely route of introduction for many species, particularly among plants and vertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of environmental taxation policies had reached most European countries by the late 1990s. The pricing of activities considered harmful to the environment has given rise to the design of various economic instruments, such as environmental taxes, aimed at promoting environmental responsibility and at enabling the Kyoto Protocol targets to be met, and at the same time generating a marked increase in tax revenues. The aim of this article is to examine whether convergence in environmental taxation has taken place among 27 EU countries, doing so by analyzing time series and applying unit root tests. Our findings show there has been no such convergence, overall, despite the existence of groups of countries with common patterns of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate progress on political biodiversity objectives, biodiversity monitoring provides information on whether intended results are being achieved. Despite scientific proof that monitoring and evaluation increase the (cost) efficiency of policy measures, cost estimates for monitoring schemes are seldom available, hampering their inclusion in policy programme budgets., Empirical data collected from 12 case studies across Europe were used in a power analysis to estimate the number of farms that would need to be sampled per major farm type to detect changes in species richness over time for four taxa (vascular plants, earthworms, spiders and bees). A sampling design was developed to allocate spatially, across Europe, the farms that should be sampled., Cost estimates are provided for nine monitoring scenarios with differing robustness for detecting temporal changes in species numbers. These cost estimates are compared with the Common Agricultural Policy ( CAP) budget (2014-2020) to determine the budget allocation required for the proposed farmland biodiversity monitoring., Results show that the bee indicator requires the highest number of farms to be sampled and the vascular plant indicator the lowest. The costs for the nine farmland biodiversity monitoring scenarios corresponded to 0·01%-0·74% of the total CAP budget and to 0·04%-2·48% of the CAP budget specifically allocated to environmental targets., Synthesis and applications. The results of the cost scenarios demonstrate that, based on the taxa and methods used in this study, a Europe-wide farmland biodiversity monitoring scheme would require a modest share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget. The monitoring scenarios are flexible and can be adapted or complemented with alternate data collection options (e.g. at national scale or voluntary efforts), data mobilization, data integration or modelling efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key controversy in conservation is the framing of the relationship between people and nature. The extent to which the realms of nature and human culture are viewed as separate (dualistic view) or integrated is often discussed in the social sciences. To explore how this relationship is represented in the practice of conservation in Europe, we considered examples of cultural landscapes, wildlife (red deer, reindeer, horses), and protected area management. We found little support, for a dualistic worldview, where people and nature are regarded as separate in the traditional practice of conservation in Europe. The borders between nature and culture, wild and domestic, public land and private land, and between protected areas and the wider landscape were blurred and dynamic. The institutionalized (in practice and legislation) view is of an interactive mutualistic system in which humans and nature share the whole landscape. However, more dualistic ideals, such as wilderness and rewilding that are challenging established practices are expanding. In the context of modern day Europe, wilderness conservation and rewilding are not valid for the whole landscape, although it is possible to integrate some areas of low-intervention management into a wider matrix. A precondition for success is to recognize and plan for a plurality of values concerning the most valid approaches to conservation and to plan for this plurality at the landscape scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative policy studies face a number of methodological challenges where conceptualization of the object of comparison-policy output-is the most fundamental. On the basis of three common approaches of the study of policy output, we reconsider this widely applied concept and propose a refined measure as a function of both density (number of policy instruments) and intensity (content of policy instruments). We theoretically derive six policy-intensity measures (objectives, scope, integration, budget, implementation, and monitoring), which are used for weighting national policy instruments on an Index of Climate Policy Activity. The article presents an empirical application of this measurement approach. Focusing on national climate policy instruments in the energy production sector in Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom, we investigate changes in the countries' policy portfolios from 1998 to 2010. The article demonstrates that our Index of Climate Policy Activity provides a reliable and valid measurement for national policy output that can be applied for comparative analyses of policy output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on transboundary conflicts between great cormorants, Phalacrocorax carbo L., and European fisheries interests. Two races of this species commonly occur in Europe; the 'Atlantic' Phalacrocorax carbo carbo and the 'Continental' P. c. sinensis. This migratory fish-eating bird has steadily expanded its European range and many consider this a nature conservation success. However, fishery representatives see the birds as harmful to their business and way of life, considering European Union (EU) legislation to be blocking the most intuitive and effective solution to the cormorant problem, namely co-ordinated, pan-European population reduction. This article argues that cormorant-fisheries conflicts and their resolution and management cannot be characterised as, or reduced to, a simplistic 'pan-European' vs 'local' argument. The nature of cormorant-fisheries conflicts is explored, key issues of cormorant ecology examined, and consideration is given to how impacts on fisheries might be measured. Discussions then focus on whether current policy prevents balanced and constructive solutions or whether better use of available instruments at local-national levels could actually be a vital step to a sustainable management solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU farmers are subject to mandatory cross-compliance measures, requiring them to meet environmental conditions to be eligible for public support. These obligations reinforce incentives for farmers to change their behaviour towards the environment. We apply quasi-experimental methods to measure the causal relationship between cross-compliance and some specific farm environmental performance. We find that cross-compliance reduced farm fertiliser and pesticide expenditure. This result also holds for farmers who participated in other voluntary agro-environmental schemes. However, the results do not support our expectations that farmers who relied on larger shares of public payments had a stronger motivation to improve their environmental performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades human activity has altered the natural cycle of nitrogen and phosphorus on a global scale, producing significant emissions to waters. In Europe, the amount of nutrients discharged from rivers to coastal waters as well as the effects of mitigation measures in place are known only partially, with no consistent temporal and spatial cover. In this study, we quantify the loads and concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged in the European seas over the period 1985-2005, and we discuss their impact on coastal ecosystems. To support our analysis, a catchment database covering the whole of Europe was developed together with data layers of nutrients diffuse and point sources, and the statistical model green was used to estimate the annual loads of nitrogen and phosphorus discharged in all European seas. The results of this study show that during the last 20 years, Europe has discharged 4.1-4.8 Tg yr−1 of nitrogen and 0.2-0.3 Tg yr−1 of phosphorus to its coastal waters. We show that beside the North Sea and part of the Baltic Sea, annual nutrient exports have not changed significantly, in spite of the implementation of measures to reduce nutrient sources, and that the N : P ratio has increased steadily, especially in the North, Mediterranean and Atlantic seas. The response of river basins to changes in inputs was not linear, but influenced by climatic variations and nutrients previously accumulated in soils and aquifers. An analysis of the effects of European environmental policies shows that measures to reduce phosphorus were more successful that those tackling nitrogen and that policies aimed at point sources were more effective or more effectively implemented than those controlling pollution from diffuse sources. The increase of the N : P ratio could fuel eutrophication in N-limited coastal ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the ecosystem's resilience to future additional anthropogenic stress, such as climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim This paper describes a set of integrative scenarios developed in the ALARM (Assessing LArge-scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods) project. The ultimate aim of ALARM was to develop and test methods and protocols for the assessment of large-scale environmental risks to biodiversity and to evaluate mitigation options. Scenarios provide a tool for exploring such risks and the policy options to mitigate them; therefore they play a central role within the ALARM project. Methods Three integrative scenarios (liberalization, business as might be usual, sustainability) were developed and illustrated using the econometric model described in a subsequent paper. They are contextualized with projections from climate models and provide the input for model-based assessments of biodiversity trends. Additionally, three shock scenarios were developed (Gulf Stream collapse, peak oil, pandemic) to demonstrate the limits of linear extrapolation. As these extend beyond model capabilities, they are discussed semi-quantitatively based on modelling insights. Results Although the policy impacts on biodiversity are different for different pressures, biomes and species groups, some general trends could be identified. An extension of current EU policies will act as a brake on current trends by slowing down the loss of biodiversity in many cases and in most biomes, but it will be capable of neither halting nor of reversing the loss. Liberalization has the effect of accelerating biodiversity loss across the board, with few exceptions. A coherent sustainability scenario is clearly the most effective at preserving biodiversity, but the variant tested here still does not halt losses in all cases. Main conclusions Current EU policies for protecting biodiversity appear to be insufficient to reverse ongoing losses. Coherent sustainability strategies are effective at conserving biodiversity, but in order to assess losses and then reverse them, measures would need to be introduced that extend beyond the steps tested in the ALARM sustainability scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe is tightening its climate change policy and with that its pollution control legislation, supposedly to lead the way towards a low carbon economy. As the rest of the world is lagging behind in greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts, this causes increasing concern for the European carbon-intensive industry. In order to address concerns of economic competitiveness and emission leakage, the EU is considering the extension of its recently revised EU Emission Trading Scheme on carbon-intensive goods imported from countries not taking comparable action to reduce their emissions. This article examines the permissibility of such an extension under the law of the World Trade Organization, namely the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (1994). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using linear programming in bio-economic farm modelling often results in overspecialised model solutions. The positive mathematical programming (PMP) approach guarantees exact calibration to base year data but the forecasting capacity of the model is affected by necessary but arbitrary assumptions imposed during calibration. In this article, a new PMP variant is presented which is based on less arbitrary assumptions that, from a theoretical point of view, are closer to the actual decision making of the farmer. The PMP variant is evaluated according to the predictions of the bio-economic farm model, developed within the framework for integrated assessment of agricultural systems in Europe (SEAMLESS). The forecasting capacity of the model calibrated with the standard PMP approach and the alternative PMP variant, respectively, is tested in ex-post experiments for the arable farm types of Flevoland (the Netherlands) and Midi-Pyrenees (France). The results of the ex-post experiments, in which we try to simulate farm responses in 2003 using a model calibrated to 1999 data, show that the alternative PMP variant improves the forecasting capacity of the model in all tested cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on European conservation practices, as well as various conservation approaches across the globe. Particular focus is given to Europe's unique approach to conservation, as conservation management at Bradfield Woods in Great Britain. Topics discussed include impact of humans on the European landscape, relationship between nature and human culture, and the trajectories of conservation in the U.S. and Europe.

1. The European Water Framework Directive provides a framework for improving the ecological quality of stream ecosystems, with deviation from reference used as a measure of ecological status. 2. Here we examine the possibility of using less impacted stream sites from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to establish a Danish reference network for macrophyte assemblages, and as a guiding image for identification of possible references sites within Denmark. Both approaches were evaluated using historical Danish records. 3. Four different macrophyte assemblages were identified for mid-sized streams in the Central and Eastern Lowland ecoregions. Macrophyte assemblages could not be delineated using physical stream site characteristics; however a gradual change in assemblage composition was attributed to differences in alkalinity and human impact. 4. Assemblages of contemporary vegetation in Denmark were quite similar to those found in Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian streams (26–35%). However, more importantly, from species-based predictions we noted higher similarity, particularly with Latvian and Lithuanian streams, before intensive land use commenced in Denmark ( c. 1900). These results show that stream sites from these three countries can be considered in a Danish reference network. 5. Two of the four macrophyte assemblages comprised species such as Fontinalis antipyretica, Myriophyllum spicatum, Nuphar lutea, Potamogeton alpinus and P. perfoliatus that have a very scattered occurrence in the contemporary vegetation in Denmark. These groups were closely associated with the predictions from historic records, thereby lending support the conjecture that these assemblages could be part of the guiding image for the identification of potential reference sites within Denmark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Natura 2000 network is the most important conservation effort being implemented in Europe. Nevertheless, no comprehensive and systematic region—or nationwide evaluation of the effectiveness of the network has been conducted. We used habitat suitability models and extent of occurrence of 468 species of vertebrates to evaluate the contribution of the Natura 2000 network to biodiversity conservation in Italy. We also estimated the population size of 101 species inside the Natura 2000 network to assess its capacity to maintain or improve the population status of listed species. In general the Italian Natura 2000 did not seem to integrate existing protected areas well. The Natura 2000 network increased from 11% to 20% the area devoted to conservation in Italy and the coverage provided to areas with high biodiversity. Nevertheless, some areas with high numbers of species were devoid of conservation areas, and more than 50% of the highly irreplaceable areas were not considered in the system. Moreover, the Natura 2000 network cannot maintain 44–80% (depending on the taxa considered) of the species in a “favorable conservation status” under World Conservation Union Red List criteria. The Natura 2000 network is probably stronger than the results of our analyses suggest. The system is based on a site-specific expert-based strategy and is driven by direct and detailed knowledge of local diversity. Nevertheless, if Natura 2000 is taken to represent the final point of all the EU conservation policies, it will inevitably fail. Its role in conservation could be enhanced by integrating the Natura 2000 system into a more general strategy that considers natural processes and the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many endangered species depend on certain types of agricultural or other forms of human land use. To conserve such species, schemes are set up in which land users receive payments for voluntarily managing their land in a biodiversity-enhancing manner. We developed a model-based framework for designing cost-effective payment schemes that generate spatiotemporal habitat heterogeneity to maximize the survival of multiple species under budget constraints. The framework integrates ecological and economic knowledge and consists of the derivation of an ecological benefit function and a budget function that are then combined to determine the cost-effective degree of spatiotemporal habitat heterogeneity. The ecological benefit function considers the timing of conservation measures, the induced habitat dynamics, and different degrees of substitutability among species. The budget function considers that the conservation agency may lack information about land users’ individual conservation costs and personal attitudes and that land users can choose among different conservation measures. We applied the framework to a case study of grassland management, where the survival of three endangered species protected by the EU Habitats Directive depends on different types of land use. The lack of information available to the agency and the choice options of land users reduced the amount of conservation that can be financed with a given budget. Neglecting such findings may lead to an overestimation of the benefits of conservation programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010 biodiversity target adopted globally and in Europe is an important political commitment for improved biodiversity conservation and management. Whether or not it is achieved will be judged by a set of biodiversity indicators now under development. We reviewed the development of these indicators in Europe and globally, paying particular attention to the need to make the indicators relevant to the purpose; to distinguish between measures of pressure, state, and response; to design and validate the indicators in context; to ensure effective communication with relevant audiences; to turn lists of measures into simple or composite indicators; and to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the indicator process. We conclude that urgent steps are needed to complete the indicator set, reduce and refine the agreed measures, ensure that work is started soon so that reliable reporting occurs in 2010, and start soon on planning for subsequent assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses various environmental issues. The Arctic ice's ability to reflect the sun's rays back into space is a key part of the mechanism that restrain global warming. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), following a Spanish initiative, is giving serious thought to adding environment and security to its mandate and is encouraging its 54 member governments from Vancouver, British Columbia to Vladivostok, Russia to develop their own environment and security programmes.

Examines the role of Great Britain and the European Union in the climate change. Paradoxes and contradictions on the role of EU in climate change; Europeans' skepticism over the United States proposals at Kyoto for international flexibility; Emergence of Great Britain as a leading force within Europe in climate policy; Great Britain's development of its policy to address greenhouse gas emissions.

Discusses the integration of groundwater quantity aspects in the water and environmental policy in Europe. Development of its water policy; Conclusion.

Discusses the role of Denmark in the development of case-law of the European Court of Justice on environmental issues. Status of the policy on safeguarding the biological diversity in Europe; Conclusion.

As part of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, agro-environmental measures are introducing a social control on agricultural practices in several European countries. Focusing chiefly on the French case, but with cross-national comparisons, this paper analyses the development of ambiguous social concern about environmental degradation linked to farming activities. Several causes are examined: the crisis of the productive agricultural model, renewed urban pressure on countryside uses and overall development of environmental anxieties. The article stresses the fact that farmers are given the ambivalent part of being at the same time damaging and managing the environmental qualities of the countryside. In conclusion, it questions the durability of public support to a policy based on local compromises and leading to greater territorial differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polluter Pays Principle has widespread acceptance as a principle of environmental policy but historically has had little application in the agriculture sector, despite its growing significance as a source of pollution. The origins of the principle and some of the difficulties of applying it in practice are discussed, as is the question of how far agriculture can be considered a special case with regard to the principle. Some current policy developments in European countries are outlined and the use of taxes and charges on fertilizer inputs in EFTA countries is examined briefly. New directions in policy are discernible; the Polluter pays Principle no longer seems irrelevant to agriculture, particularly in the intensive livestock sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summarizes the amendments of the Treaty of Amsterdam which was signed on October 2, 1997. Implications of the amendments on the environmental law and policy in Europe; Status of its treaties on environment; Conclusion.

Presents information on some court cases on environmental law and policy in Europe. Relation between the international protection of human rights and the protection of the environment; Definition of waste.

The historical role of agriculture creating semi-natural vegetation is still not fully appreciated by many ecologists, conservationists, policy-makers or the general public. Nor is the fact that for many European landscapes and biotopes of high nature conservation value, the only practicable, socially acceptable and sustainable management involves the continuation o flow-intensity farming. Consequently, too much emphasis is placed on attempting to ameliorate damaging effects of agricultural management rather than supporting ecologically sustainable low-intensity farming practices. More than 50% of Europe's most highly valued biotopes occur on low­intensity farmland. However, most of this farmland has no environmental policy directly affecting it; most management decisions are taken by farm businesses and determined primarily by European and national agricultural officials. As a result, there continues to be intensification or abandonment of traditional practices, changes which are equally damaging to the nature conservation value. However, the nature conservation importance of low-intensity farming systems is gradually being recognized. Reforms and reviews of agriculture policy are providing a variety of potential opportunities for maintaining such systems. Unfortunately, initiating change through policy is a slow process. There is therefore also a pressing need to look for other opportunities to maintain surviving systems and, where possible, to reinstate those recently lost. Although these systems may be considered low-intensity in terms of chemical inputs and productivity, they are usually high-intensity in terms of human labour. Therefore, the processes that make the low-intensity farmed countryside biologically rich and diverse must be understood, but at the same time mechanisms to make life easier and more rewarding for the people who work such farmland must be found. Ecologists and conservationists should think less of remnants of habitat being left amongst farmland' and more of a farmland biotope for which optimum management practices need to be developed. At the same time the current emphasis on site- based conservation should be complemented by strategic initiatives that promote wise management of the wider countryside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]