I have a bit of a reputation amongst colleagues for going on about the Birds Directive. ‘Yes, we know its important, but it’s a bit, well, dull’. And at one level, the inner workings of the legal foundation for so much modern success for nature conservation is not, perhaps, where you would start to enthuse people. You are unlikely to hear ‘Cor look at that peregrine, it’s listed on Annex 1 of the Birds Directive and is thus subject to special protection, don’t you know’ as the opening line at one of the RSPB’ s Date with Nature projects.
But lets not be under any illusion, without this piece of far-thinking legislation our wildlife and wild places would be in a much worse state than they are now. As the first decade of the 21st Century rapidly runs out we must face up to the fact that the Governments of the European Union have failed to stop the decline in biological diversity – the goal set by them to halt the decline by 2010 will be missed. But in the context of overall failure, the role of the Birds Directive (and the related Habitats Directive that together are referred to as the Nature Directives) needs special mention.
It’s 30 years since the Birds Directive was adopted. To mark the occasion (and with a clear eye on the need to set a new course in response to the failure to meet the 2010 target), we’ve published a document which you can find here. A clear message from our analysis of the current state of the Birds Directive is that it can act as a stimulus for sustainable development (rather than be the means of halting economic activity in its tracks, which is a charge often raised against the Nature Directives). In an earlier post I highlighted the benefits of our close working with the aggregates industry, this is a partnership built on and underpinned, in part, by the clarity and effectiveness of the Nature Directives.
A critical issue that we highlight in the report is the lack of progress towards completing the network of sites designated as part of the Natura 2000 network (there’s information in the document explaining the importance of Natura 2000, in summary they are the places of greatest importance for wildlife in the EU. The network includes Special Protection Areas designated under the Birds Directive and Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive). The Czech Republic has raised the bar as this recent news shows that they are getting on with completing the vital job of designation, in the UK there is significant work to do to complete the network on land and especially at sea.
And this is one area where the public clearly value what the European Union is about, protecting the environment scored well in a recent opinion poll which I mentioned previously.
Do have a read, and I would be delighted to know what you think.