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There are dramatic figures on the loss of biodiversity in the EU. Birds, other animals, and entire ecosystems are getting worse and worse. Agriculture plays an important role in this.
By Gudrun Engel, ARD-Studio Brussels
In 1998 and 2019, the lark was named Bird of the Year in Germany. An award that aims to draw attention to the danger of animals and habitats. Today’s report on the “State of Nature in the EU” by the European Environment Agency confirms exactly that: nature is suffering, biodiversity is declining.
In particular, flora and fauna in areas that are overused by agriculture are mostly doing poorly: 39 percent of birds, 63 percent of other animals, and even 81 percent of ecosystems found. in the European Union according to the Habitats Directive (FFH). the abbreviation of Flora-Fauna-Habitat) are protected, are in poor condition or in inadequate conditions. Grasslands, grasslands, seas and coasts are mainly mentioned.
Too much pressure on flora and fauna
“The ‘State of Nature Report’ in Europe is the largest and most comprehensive collection of data ever compiled on the state of flora and fauna in the EU,” said the director of the European Environment Agency. , Hans Bruyninckx.
But the main news is not good: “While some species and habitats are at the same level as the last study, most animals and ecosystems are in poor or even very poor condition,” Bruyninckx said. The Belgian claims that the various factors that put pressure on flora and fauna are simply too many and too great.
Fewer and fewer breeding pairs in the EU
There are 463 different species of wild birds in the European Union, but only 47 percent of all bird species do well. Six years ago it was 52 percent. A decrease of five percentage points. 39 percent of the birds are now in poor or even very poor condition.
There are fewer and fewer breeding pairs. Development is clearly slowing down, especially in meadows and fields, these are exactly the landscapes that larks and grouse need. Another problem: 86 different species of birds are still hunted, especially in southern Europe.
How are the seas
The report does not focus solely on the roughly 2,000 endangered animal species, but also looks at the ecosystems and habitats of these animals. There are 233 different types of landscapes in Europe that deserve special protection. These are, for example, moors, dune landscapes or virgin forests. Overall, 81 percent of these habitats are in unsuitable or poor condition from the point of view of species protection. Mainly green areas for agricultural use, but also lakes and moors are affected. And according to the study authors, the situation continues to deteriorate.
According to the research team, it is particularly difficult to make statements about the state of the oceans: although nine European regions have even designated a maritime protection zone, there are no specific figures on biodiversity and occurrence, not even for known species such as sea turtles or whales. minke.
Volunteers have an important role to play
The ‘State of Nature in the EU’ report appears every six years and is based on data submitted by member states. For the first time, Croatia is also there. According to the study authors, the figures for Romania are only patchy. The FFH monitoring data from Germany is used as a basis.
Bird censuses of many thousands of volunteers between 2013 and 2018 provide an important database. They recorded the status of animals, plants, and habitats in around 14,000 random samples. All these European data allow conclusions to be drawn about the state of nature as a whole.
According to NABU, there is not enough free space
According to the Naturschutzbund Deutschland, NABU, the situation in Germany does not differ from the general trend in the EU: field birds such as lark or grouse are also disappearing in this country.
What is missing are wastelands where birds can find food and breed in peace. “Europe is a highly-used habitat, agriculture in particular causes great damage to biodiversity, as does urban sprawl and the expansion of meaningless traffic axes,” says Magnus Wessel of NABU.
The European Environment Agency points to agriculture as the main cause of the problems: fertilizers and pesticides, intensive use and sealing of areas through construction, but sometimes also the clearing of forests, energy production, tourism and leisure activities like sport.
The EU debates the common agricultural policy
The timing of the report’s publication fits in with the political agenda in Brussels: this week the EU Parliament will vote on agricultural reform. A decision will be made on the future common agricultural policy until 2027. Among other things, it will be about how much space farms have to reserve for the protection of biodiversity, for example areas with flowers, green strips or hedges, if they want to receive subsidies of EU pots in the future.
There is also good news in the progress report: at the regional level, specific protection measures would create real success stories, according to the Environment Agency. She cites the puffins of northern Europe as an example. The number of breeding pairs has increased again. And with the European beaver, the population has at least stabilized.
