Biodiversity policy in the EU and Germany: Recent developments and perspectives

Transcription

1 Copy right: COREL Biodiversity policy in the EU and Germany: Recent developments and perspectives Sandra Naumann, Ecologic Institute March 29, 2011

2 Content 1. Biodiversity in the EU: Status and Trends 2. EU Biodiversity Policy 3. Implementation on national level German Biodiversity Policy and Biorecovery/ renaturation projects 4. The Economic of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) 5. Outlook: Post 2010 Biodiversity Strategy 2

3 Definition Biodiversity To differentiate between species diversity ecosystem diversity genetic diversity 3

4 1. Biodiversity in the EU: Status and Trends In 2001 the EU announced aim to halt biodiversity loss in the EU by 2010 but we missed the target: In Europe, 1 in 6 mammal species are threatened with extinction marine mammals being particularly at risk; birds too. More than a quarter of the European mammal population is declining with the chance that more species will become threatened. Global situation: 60 % of ecosystem services have been degraded in the last 50 years. 4

5 Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Assessment 2010 Assessment of 4 main policy areas of the EU BAP: 1) biodiversity in the EU, 2) the EU and global biodiversity, 3) biodiversity and climate change, and 4) the knowledge base Main Conclusions: Increased (political) awareness Progress on environmental issues (Natura 2000, water ) Increased efforts by sectors (more funding opportunities) BUT key pressures underpinned by indirect drivers are still increasing Biodiversity is still declining in EU and globally. EU has missed its 2010 target of halting biodiversity decline. 5

6 Biodiversity Action Plan Assessment 2010 Source: 6

7 Why is this a problem - What do we need biodiversity for? (Human benefits) Biodiversity supports a number of natural ecosystem processes and services. Some ecosystem services that benefit society are Air quality Climate (global CO 2 sequestration and local) Water purification Pollination Prevention of erosion Non-material benefits: spiritual and aesthetic values, knowledge systems, value of education 7

8 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) 8

9 Reasons for missing the 2010 target In general Land-use changes Over-exploitation Unsustainable practices Pollution Introduction of invasive species which have led to habitat and species destruction Climate change 9

10 Reasons for missing the 2010 target More specifically to the EU target: Breaches of EU nature legislation Lack of money Knowledge gaps Failure to build in biodiversity protection into other policies New' threats, like climate change Too many different action items Policy gaps such as the lack of a comprehensive policy on invasive species or a failure to get agreement on the Soil Framework Directive 10

11 2. EU Biodiversity Policy Source: Anne Teller, DG Env (2010) :The post-2010 biodiversity strategy (ppt) EC Biodiversity + 4 BAPs (2001) European Council agrees to halt the loss of Biodiversity by 2010 Biodiversity included in SDS and 6th EAP as priority EC Communication and Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Mid-term review of the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Health Check for Habitats and Species 15 March: Post-2010 vision and target adopted Endorsed by EU heads of state on 26 March Nagoya Convention on Biological Diversity (EC contracting party since 1993) 2010 global target adopted in Vision, 2020 Mission & targets adopted in

12 Main policies/ instruments of EU Biodiversity Policy The legal basis for the Natura 2000 network comes from the Birds Directive which dates back to 1979: requires the establishment of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for birds and the Habitats Directive from 1992: similarly requires Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to be designated for other species, and for habitats Together SPAs and SACs make up the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, so these Directives constitute the backbone of the EU's internal policy on biodiversity protection. 12

13 Achievements of EU biodiversity policy: Natura 2000 network Over the last 25 years built up a vast network of nearly protected areas Covering all Member States and a total area of more than km 2, representing approximately 18% of total EU terrestrial area and more than km² of its seas It has halted the destruction and degradation of vital habitats such as wetlands, which are now better protected across Europe than ever before Areas include: national parks, biosphere reserves, extensive farming and marine areas, etc. Wild Birds Directive: has had a significant positive impact in protecting many of the continent's most threatened birds in its Special Protection Areas. 13

14 A range of ecosystem services provided by the Natura 2000 area Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme (Azores, Portugal) Water provisioning: amount of water originating from the Natura 2000 area used by the surrounding communities is 1,4 million m 3 /year, worth 600,000/ year. Estimate is based on existing price of drinking water, excluding water used by agriculture, i.e. likely to be an underestimate of the total value. Flood and landslide protection: Estimate of the magnitude of avoided costs: 29 deaths and around 20,000,000 in damages in the areas in1997 due to landslides and floods. Carbon storage: Natura 2000 areas: ca. 465,000 t C, plus carbon sequestered in the peat area Source: (RuiAmaral) 14

15 A range of ecosystem services provided by the Natura 2000 area Pico da Vara / Ribeira do Guilherme (Azores, Portugal) Ecotourism: value of ecotourism in the Nordeste council area: 60,000 (travel cost method) / 16,500 (tourism expenditure) Education: 10 school groups / year, around 10 university visitors / year, a total of 10 scientific papers since 1968 Landscape and amenity value: In the Povoação community, WTP / person, total WTP estimate 3,000,000 for the Povoação region Job creation: LIFE Priolo Project created around 21.6 direct full time jobs / year. Expenditure of the park and its staff and volunteers: / year, supporting 4 indirect fulltime jobs / year 15

16 Challenges für biodiversity action 1. Integration, 2. National biodiversity strategies, 3. Implementation at EU/national level Biodiversity needs to be integrated into other policies: regional and cohesion, energy, transport, fishery, agricultural, forest and bioenergy policies, etc. 16

17 Biodiversity in other policy areas: Example Soil Soil hosts one quarter of the planet's biodiversity - Discussions about EU Soils Directive good example to see what works in the EU/ what doesn t and why: Since 2007 a minority of countries (Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Malta) continued still block proposals for an EU Soils Directive. The Directive would introduce EU rules on soil condition monitoring, soil erosion, the decline in organic matter, and contamination. Member States would be obliged to: take preventive measures; identify areas at risk of erosion, the decline in organic matter, salination, compaction, sealing and landslides, as well as creating an inventory of contaminated sites. Member States would have a lot of freedom to set their own targets. Argument that soil is not a transboundary issue is weak because it is intimately bound up with climate change and biodiversity. 17

18 3. Implementation on national level German Biodiversity Policy CBD-relevance: National Biodiversity Strategy EU-relevance: Habitats and Wild Birds Directive (Flora-Fauna-Habitatrichtlinie (FFH) und Vogelschutzrichtlinie) at national level Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz) at national level Nature Conservation Acts (Landesnaturschutzgesetze) at regional level 18

19 The National Strategy for Biodiversity (2007) agricultural objectives Increase biological diversity in agricultural ecosystems (until 2020) Assurance of the majority of population species in agricultural used landscapes (until 2015) Growth of the quota of natural high valuable agrarian ecosystems up to 10% compared to 2005 (until 2015) Safeguarding endangered cultivated plant species and livestock Preventing the endangerment of biological diversity by genetically modified organism (GMO)

20 Implementation of Natura 2000 EU MSs compile lists of the best wildlife areas containing the habitats and species listed in the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive This list must then be submitted to the European Commission, after which an evaluation and selection process on European level will take place in order to become a Natura 2000 site (only afterwards economic/ social concerns to protect these areas can be considered) Implementation in German law through Federal Nature Conservation Federal States (Bundesländer) are responsible to select and protect Natura 2000 sites Development of Integrated management plans for Natura 2000 sites 20

21 FFH areas Germany 21

22 Biorecovery/Renaturation - Examples Lusatia is swimming in a sea of lignite. Over decades the area between the Elster, Spree und Neisse rivers was transformed into a centre for the power industry by opencast pits, briquette factories and power stations. Visitors were few and far between Source:

23 Biorecovery/Renaturation - Examples Four opencast mines are still operating in Lusatia at the present time Nearly all the chimneys have disappeared. This helps the environment, but threatens to obliterate parts of a past that has left an enduring mark on the people and their region From the outset, part of this past was the attempt to make exhausted coal pits blend back into the natural landscape and be of some use large scale remodeling The "Lusatian Industrial Heritage ENERGY Route is a new attraction for tourists since 2006 Source:

24 Biorecovery/Renaturation - Examples php?id=4008,237 Sustainable cultivation of high valuable grassland with the Heath-Alliance for the Donau-Ries-Region in Southern Germany Uses synergies between nature conservation and land use. Benefits: protection of rare species, support of the local shepherds and economy Monitoring of Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the Baltic Sea to create new marine protected areas within the Natura 2000 network. Support by sailors Raise awareness by tourists, users of the sea Repatriation of the Common Sturgeon in the river Oder (East Germany) by the German Agency for Nature Conservation Involvement of local stakeholders Tierart_Stoer.html

25 4. The Economic of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) March 2007: "Potsdam Initiative" for biodiversity In a global study we will initiate the process of analyzing the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation. Improve our understanding of the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity (TEEB) and its links to poverty eradication The TEEB-study shows us again how expensive it is to destroy our natural world: By 2050, the cost of doing nothing about terrestrial biodiversity loss would amount to about 7% of global consumption. 25

26 Goals and 2 project phases Assess and Communicate the urgency of actions to address ecosystems and biodiversity loss by presenting the economic, societal and human value of the benefits of ecosystems and biodiversity and the scale of BAU losses Mainstream these economics, by addressing national policy-makers, local administrators, business and citizens (the end-users of these economics) to recognize and respond to the value of ecosystems and biodiversity in their decisions and choices Phase 1 (Sep 2007 /May 2008) Preliminary scoping work, Some first analysis (forests), Clarification of project s goals, objectives, end-users Preliminary communication of the problem, its economic and social links, its dimensions, and raise support for Phase 2 Phase 2 (Sep 2008/ Oct 2010) Additional analysis within a wider valuation framework (biomes, ESS) Gap analysis and risk analysis (links, risks, resilience, thresholds, ethics ) Focus on end-users of these economics Engage diverse experts, network more organisations 26

27 Evaluation studies 27

28 Various TEEB outcomes and end users For ecologists and economists (TEEB D0) For international and national policy makers (TEEB-D1) For local and regional governments (TEEB-D2) For business (TEEB-D3) For citizens TEEB4me (TEEB-D4) using social networks Synthesis Published at 28

29 4. Outlook: Post 2010 Biodiversity Strategy Council conclusions (26 March 2010): EU post-2010 vision and target for biodiversity Adoption of a long-term (2050) vision for biodiversity: Biodiversity and the ecosystem services we get for free from nature are preserved, valued and, insofar as possible, restored for their intrinsic value, enabling them to support economic prosperity and human well-being, and averting any catastrophic changes linked to biodiversity loss. Adoption of a mid-term (2020) headline target Halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and restoring them in so far as feasible, while stepping up the EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.

30 Post-2010 biodiversity policy frameworks Adoption of EU post-2010 biodiversity vision & headline target Adoption (15/03/10) Development and adoption of post EU biodiversity strategy Adoption (2011) Adoption of new global strategic plan (vision, mission, 20 targets) CBD COP10 (29/10/10) Source: Anne Teller, DG Env (2010) :The post-2010 biodiversity strategy (ppt) 30

31 Knowledge base for post-2010 Strategy State, trends and pressures of biodiversity and ecosystem services in EU (Article 17, SEBI 2010, RUBICODE) State of biodiversity and pressure at global level (2010 BIP, GBO3) Source: Anne Teller, DG Env (2010) : The post-2010 biodiversity strategy (ppt) EEA BASELINE + other sources Why did we fail? Economic & social consequences of not having reached the target Bise: EU BAP 2010 Assessment TEEB + other sources 31

32 Rationale for Sub-Targets ST6-Contribution to Global Biodiversity ST2- Restoration Green Infrastructure Ecosystems service Habitats D ST3- Unsustainable Land Use AGRICULTURE FORESTRY Soil FD Birds D ST4-Overexploitation FISHERIES ST1- Nature Conservation ST5-INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES Marine SFD Water FD Pollution Climate Change Source: Anne Teller, DG Env (2010) :The post-2010 biodiversity strategy (ppt) 32

33 Next steps EU Biodiversity Strategy (2011) Council conclusions HU Presidency (June 2011) Green Infrastructure Strategy (end 2011) IPBES meeting / EU mechanism (autumn 2011) Invasive Species Strategy (2012) Development of indicators to monitor EU and Aichi s targets to be adopted by 2012 (AHTEG June 2011) Green economy, Rio+20 Summit (May 2012) EU Biodiversity mid-term assessment & 5NR (2014) EU ecosystem assessment (TEEB)/MDG Summit (2015) 33

34 Green Infrastructure (Strategy) Network of natural/semi-natural areas, features and/or green spaces in rural and urban, terrestrial and coastal areas to enhance: a) ecosystem health and resilience, b) contribute to biodiversity conservation and c) benefit human populations - through the enhancement /maintenance of ecosystem services Source: Source: Strategic and co-ordinated initiatives (focus on the creation of new areas/features or connect existing areas) Source: 34

35 Thank you for listening Sandra Naumann Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Str , D Berlin Tel. +49 (30) , Fax +49 (30) sandra.naumann{at}ecologic{dot}eu 35