The European habitats under threat have been established

A full assessment was made, which provides a full picture of the condition of 490 habitats in 35 countries in Europe – from the Polar Circle to the Mediterranean and the continent surrounding coastal waters in the North Atlantic, the Baltic, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Over 300 experts contributed their knowledge and expertise.

European Red List of Habitats is funded by EU Commission and it is the fruit of the partnership of Wageningen Environmental Research, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the NatureBureau and consultants Susan Gubbay and John Rodwell.

The results of the work are quite telling. Over one third of all land habitats at the moment are under threat: these are three thirds of the peats and the marshes, over half of the pastures and the meadows, as well as nearly half of our lakes, rivers and coasts. Forest, shrub and rock habitats are not as much threatened, but their condition is also alarming.

In all surrounding Europe seas and in the Atlantic Ocean, the shell banks, the submarine communities of sea weed, and the habitats in the river mouths are under threat. These are nearly one fourth of the habitats in the northeastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The big number of the marine habitats, about which we know too little yet, especially about those in the Black Sea, is alarming.

The natural habitats in Europe decrease in area and their quality worsens for many reasons, and more threats have a bigger and bigger impact. The excessive use and abandonment of traditional practices in pastures and meadows, the drainage and pollution of water basins, the invasion of foreign and invasive plant and animal species, the urbanization and the related infrastructure development, all these processes continue to present a real danger to land and freshwater habitats.

For marine habitats, the main threats are pollution, the inflow of organic substances (eutrophication) in water, the destructive fishing practices, the construction of protective facilities along the coasts and others. Some dangerous consequences of climate change are already obvious, for marine as well for land and freshwater ecosystems, and there is a great risk that they will get worse.

All habitats taken together are a part of the very diverse European land and marine landscapes. They shelter thousands of plant and animal species and are sources of important ecosystem services as for example protection of soils against erosion, carbon fixation, and of course they mitigate the impact of global warming. These habitats can provide to people in Europe valuable agricultural crops and sustain stock-breeding, game and fish, and recuperation and tourism sites. As a place for rest and recuperation and for inspiration, they are the most valuable heritage for future generations.
European Red List of Habitats provides a whole new and all-encompassing tool for reviewing the progress of taken engagements for protection and restoration of land, fresh-water basins and seas in Europe. It includes a much bigger scope of these habitats, which are already protected by law as per the Habitats Directive, and will help evaluate the performance of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy.


Bulgaria and the European Red List

With 120 terrestrial and fresh-water habitats and 51 marine ones, Bulgaria ranks among the five richest in habitats European countries, right behind France, Spain and Italy, which are much larger in territory and fall in several biogeographical zones. Not surprisingly, the coastal habitats (especially dunes) and some shrub and grass habitats were rated higher in specifics, but also were listed in the group of the most threatened habitats in Europe.

Bulgaria’s coordinator and author of European Red List for Terrestrial and Fresh-Water Habitats is Associate Professor Dr. Rosen Tsonev from Biological Faculty of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. Information about the assessments in European Red Lest for Terrestrial and Fresh-Water Habitats in Bulgaria was also presented by Chief Assistant Dr. Plamen Ivanov from Biological Faculty of Sofia University, Associate Professor Dr. Marius Dimitrov from University of Forestry, Associate Professor Dr. Veska Rusakova and Chief Assistant Chavdar Gusev (both from IBER-BAS). Associate Professor Veselina Mihneva from the Institute of Fishery Resources (IFR) in Varna presented information about the assessment of the marine habitats in the area of the Black Sea.

Additional information:

Additional information on the Red Book may be found in the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/knowledge/redlist_en.htm

Wageningen Environmental Research, also known as Alterra, is a research institute at the University of Wageningen (Holland), which provides a combination of practical and theoretical scientific research in the field of the environment and sustainable usage of natural resources. The Institute combines expertise in studies of waters and soils, ecosystems, climate, landscapes, as well as basis information on environmental assessments and the economics of natural resources. Around 400 scientist work at the Institute. It is a member of the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), an active member of EU’s network for scientific research (ALTER-Net) and one of the partners of the European Topic Center (ETC-LUSI). The experts of the Institute have participated in the preparation of the birds and habitats directives and in projects for supporting the development of Natura 2000 network in several EU member-states. John Janssen can provide additional information on the project, with focus on terrestrial and fresh-water habitats on tel. +31 6 22730548 or if you e-mail him on john.janssen@wur.nl.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the oldest and biggest environmental organization in the world, founded in 1948, which has over 1300 members, including state and non-governmental organizations, as well as thousands of experts-volunteers. IUCN’s activity is supported by more than 1000 staff in 45 offices and by hundreds of partners in the public, non-governmental and private sector all over the world. IUCN is well known for its huge scientific base and know-how in protection and sustainable utilization of natural resources. IUCN has rich experience in delivering up-to-date knowledge of how protecting biological diversity and management of ecosystems can benefit people and their well-being. Also, IUCN believes that policies on key policies affecting people’s well-being should be based on up-to-date scientific information. It has a great experience in solving important international issues, based on stakeholders dialogue, and as a result to be formulated socially oriented and acceptable for all stakeholders policies for decision making. Rebecca Miller can provide additional information on the ecosystems of IUCN at the e-mail address: Rebecca.Miller@iucn.org

NatureBureau is a consultancy organization in the UK, which works for protection the wild nature. The Bureau is specialised in the field of ecology of seas and coasts, as well as in policies for protection of nature, planning of management, graphic design, communication and project management. Established at 1990, the organization has been providing consultancy services to a number of government, non-government organization and private firms and clients in the field of nature conservation and biological diversity management. The Bureau can provide additional information on assessment of marine habitats on tel. + 44 1635 550380 or at e-mail address: ecology@naturebureau.co.uk.

Susan Gabbay is a scientist, a freelance oceanographer, working in the field of biological diversity protection in the UK and across Europe. She can provide additional information on marine habitats assessment at e-mail address: sgubbay@mayhill.wyenet.co.uk


John Rodwell is a freelance ecological consultant, who works in the UK and Europe. He can provide additional information on tel.: +44 7908-420058 or at e-mail address: johnrodwell@tiscali.co.uk