2.4 Biodiversity and ecosystems Case study


Main messages: Biodiversity and ecosystems


• While the region contains five globally recognized biodiversity hotspots it also contains some of the most human- dominated environments, which have dramatically altered the natural environment, and reduced the size of natural and semi-natural habitats. In three of the five hotspots the extent of the remaining primary habitat has shrunk below 20 per cent of its original size, and in the Mediterranean Basin only 5 per cent of the natural habitat remains, with many of its endemic species threatened with extinction.


• Biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation is continuing in the region. Ongoing biodiversity decline and loss is particularly high in Eastern and Western Europe, with lower rates in Central Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asian countries.


• The main regional pressures and drivers of biodiversity loss are associated with increased land-use change, particularly agricultural intensification, urbanization and habitat fragmentation. Other pressures include unsustainable direct exploitation of biological resources, and invasive species. These pressures also affect ecosystems in the region some of which are particularly vulnerable, such as wetlands.


• An important challenge that needs urgent attention is improving open access to comprehensive and integrated biodiversity data to support assessments and analysis, as well as planning and implementation of conservation efforts.


• Some positive developments and individual success stories offer lessons worth learning. In a limited number of cases, positive trends can be observed in biodiversity health and habitat quality, both for species and ecosystems. For example, there are some positive developments in mammals in the Russian Federation.


• The Natura 2000 network is the most extensive network of protected areas in the world; it comprises more than 27 000 sites and covering 18 per cent of the terrestrial area of the EU Member States and 4 per cent of EU marine waters. Based on the same principles as Natura 2000, the pan-European Emerald Network and the pan-European Ecological Network would further enhance conservation efforts.


2.4.1 Biodiversity in the pan-European region - patterns and data


The biosphere provides the core components of the human life-support system on this planet. However, the profound importance of biodiversity for current and future human well-being and a well-functioning natural environment has still not been fully appreciated nor accounted for, neither globally nor regionally, although there is a high public awareness of biodiversity and its vulnerability. Over three- quarters of people in an EU-28 survey very much agree that it is important to halt species loss, seeing it as a moral obligation (EC 2013e) (More...44). The tremendous complexity of the biosphere and its hugely cross-cutting nature, with


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links to and affecting all sectors of the environment, also pose considerable challenges for scientific assessment and analysis, communication, and adequate societal and political response. For biodiversity alone, this has resulted in a huge diversity of political initiatives, mechanisms and agreements, all concerned with different aspects of biodiversity for the pan-European region alone. The region contains some of the most human-dominated environments in the world, and includes many ecosystems and habitats that have been shaped by human activities for centuries, if not for thousands of years. The transformation of landscapes, in the past mostly by agriculture and forest use and in more recent times by urbanization and industrialization, dramatically altered the natural environment, and reduced the size


GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European Region


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