Ten priorities for a EU long-term vision for Biodiversity
Council
Monday, 01 February 2010 16:27
In the frame of the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), a two-day European conference entitled “Post-2010 Biodiversity vision and target - The role of protected areas and ecological networks in Europe” took place in Madrid on 26-27 January. Senior level representatives of 45 European states, UNEP, UNESCO, OECD, the European Commission, representatives from international conventions, autonomous regions, NGOs and other experts participated in this event.
Spanish Minister of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs Elena Espinosa and Minister of Science and Innovation Cristina Garmendia stressed the need to stop the loss of biodiversity on the planet. They reminded people that Spain is the Member State with the highest level of biodiversity in the EU, being the top-ranked country for species of birds, mammals and reptiles, and third in amphibians and fish, according to Garmendia.
Ms. Espinosa stressed that “Each and every one of the citizens of the world is involved in the fight against biodiversity loss”. This will be “one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU”, she added. Cristina Garmendia emphasised that “our future social and economic development” rests largely on biodiversity. Promoting this global debate is the main aim of the International Year of Biodiversity, she added. In her opinion, the conservation of species and being able to hand them down to future generations is "in our hands" “Scientific thought has a lot to contribute" to this commitment to a habitable planet for our descendants.
The official conclusions of the conference, called the “Cibeles priorities” in reference to the Earth Mother goddess in mythology, first acknowledge the intrinsic value of biodiversity. Protecting biological diversity is also essential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, it argues. The document then notes that the target of stopping biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been reached, and explores the reasons for this clear failure. The six main reasons are “the incomplete implementation of certain legal instruments; the lack of additional instruments to tackle specific problems; long-standing information gaps and unsufficient scientific knowledge; poor integration in sectoral policies; funding needs; and the unbalance between those working for biodiversity conservation and those that benefit from it.”
The conclusions then advocate a common long-term vision for 2050 which first has to set mid-term targets aiming at halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services, and restoring them significantly by 2020. It is about a ”bottom-up” approach, which means that action for biodiversity should come from the ground and show “the economic opportunities that arise from conservation.” In line with these principles, the 10 “Cibeles priorities” are the following: (1) “to incorporate the objectives and targets for biodiversity as part of the EU Strategy for 2020, which will replace the Gotemburg and Lisbon Strategies”, (2) “to ensure payment for ecosystem services”, (3) “to deepen the integration of biodiversity into agriculture, fishing, energy, transport and development policies, as well as to improve ecological connectivity and adaptation to climate change”, (4) “to fully apply the Birds and Habitats Directives of the EU and to complete the establishment of the Natura 2000 and Emerald Networks”, (5) “to preserve the marine environment”, (6) “to urgently adopt concrete measures to efficiently tackle the problems related to deforestation, to forest, soil and water resources degradation and to the introduction of invasive alien species”, (7) “to support the establishment and management of protected areas and ecological networks in third countries”, (8) “to boost the integration of scientific knowledge into decision-making processes”, (9) “to reform the global environmental governance system” and (10) “to establish European Action Plans to achieve the 2020 target”. The participants to the Madrid conference agreed that this is the framework of a “genuine European agenda for Biodiversity”.
Spanish Minister of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs Elena Espinosa and Minister of Science and Innovation Cristina Garmendia stressed the need to stop the loss of biodiversity on the planet. They reminded people that Spain is the Member State with the highest level of biodiversity in the EU, being the top-ranked country for species of birds, mammals and reptiles, and third in amphibians and fish, according to Garmendia.
Ms. Espinosa stressed that “Each and every one of the citizens of the world is involved in the fight against biodiversity loss”. This will be “one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU”, she added. Cristina Garmendia emphasised that “our future social and economic development” rests largely on biodiversity. Promoting this global debate is the main aim of the International Year of Biodiversity, she added. In her opinion, the conservation of species and being able to hand them down to future generations is "in our hands" “Scientific thought has a lot to contribute" to this commitment to a habitable planet for our descendants.
The official conclusions of the conference, called the “Cibeles priorities” in reference to the Earth Mother goddess in mythology, first acknowledge the intrinsic value of biodiversity. Protecting biological diversity is also essential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, it argues. The document then notes that the target of stopping biodiversity loss by 2010 has not been reached, and explores the reasons for this clear failure. The six main reasons are “the incomplete implementation of certain legal instruments; the lack of additional instruments to tackle specific problems; long-standing information gaps and unsufficient scientific knowledge; poor integration in sectoral policies; funding needs; and the unbalance between those working for biodiversity conservation and those that benefit from it.”
The conclusions then advocate a common long-term vision for 2050 which first has to set mid-term targets aiming at halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services, and restoring them significantly by 2020. It is about a ”bottom-up” approach, which means that action for biodiversity should come from the ground and show “the economic opportunities that arise from conservation.” In line with these principles, the 10 “Cibeles priorities” are the following: (1) “to incorporate the objectives and targets for biodiversity as part of the EU Strategy for 2020, which will replace the Gotemburg and Lisbon Strategies”, (2) “to ensure payment for ecosystem services”, (3) “to deepen the integration of biodiversity into agriculture, fishing, energy, transport and development policies, as well as to improve ecological connectivity and adaptation to climate change”, (4) “to fully apply the Birds and Habitats Directives of the EU and to complete the establishment of the Natura 2000 and Emerald Networks”, (5) “to preserve the marine environment”, (6) “to urgently adopt concrete measures to efficiently tackle the problems related to deforestation, to forest, soil and water resources degradation and to the introduction of invasive alien species”, (7) “to support the establishment and management of protected areas and ecological networks in third countries”, (8) “to boost the integration of scientific knowledge into decision-making processes”, (9) “to reform the global environmental governance system” and (10) “to establish European Action Plans to achieve the 2020 target”. The participants to the Madrid conference agreed that this is the framework of a “genuine European agenda for Biodiversity”.
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