Last September (when the General Election seemed but a distant dream or was it a nightmare, it's easy to forget) I reported (here) on the decision by the new President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker to consider a ‘merger’ of the EU Birds and Habitats & Species Directives (aka Nature Directives). Given the anti-regulatory context within which this announcement was made, our concern was that ‘merger’ was simply code for ‘weaken’.
Today, the battle to defend the laws that protect our nature commences with the launch of a public consultation on the Directives (see here).
It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of the Nature Directives to conservation. There are 421 million fewer birds in Europe than there were 30 years ago (see here) yet the Directives have played a crucial role in stemming further declines. For example, the overall population trend for birds that are specially protected (as Annex1 species, for the technical amongst you) by the Birds Directive has gone from declining to increasing. If the Directives were implemented in full, I would expect us to be able to report even more positive conservation success stories.
The Directives help the economy to prosper, too, with the network of areas they protect creating €200-300bn worth of economic benefits per year (see here).
Moreover, the Directives allow development to take place in harmony with nature. Cemex – a global quarrying company with over 40,000 staff and an annual turnover of $15b – emphatically made this point in a recent statement (here) on the future of the Directives.
It short, they are good for wildlife, good for people and good for business.
Despite this, the current political climate is increasing hostile to any regulation in the European Union and there seems to be a general desire to see laws stripped away, regardless of the consequences. There isa real danger that this approach will be applied to the Nature Directives.
The public consultation is part of a ‘Fitness Check’ (a test of whether a regulation is fit for purpose) of the Nature Directives, launched by the European Commission last year. The Fitness Check involves collating evidence from a range of sources across Europe, but the public consultation launching today will be the only formal opportunity for the citizens of Europe, including you, to have their say in this process.
Whilst the Fitness Check itself will be looking at the evidence, the decision the European Commission makes as a result of it will inevitably be a political one. Given that, without a massive demonstration of public support for the Directives, the RSPB and many other NGOs are concerned that this review will lead to the Nature Directives being weakened.
We need to remind our politicians that the Directives were established on the smart principle that no Member State should gain competitive advantage by trashing their natural environment AND that attempts to meet international commitments to halt the loss of biodiversity will be seriously undermined if the Directives were weakened.
We’re working with partners across the UK and EU to ensure that European leaders are left in no doubt that the citizens of the UK and Europe care passionately about nature and won’t tolerate a weakening of its protection.
That is why, after the General Election, we will be launching a major campaign to defend the Directives. We will be asking as many of you as possible to respond to the public consultation – and to encourage your friends and family to do the same.
You’ll hear more about the campaign soon but in the meantime, please get ready to defend nature.
Photo credits
Ben Andrew's image is a reminder of the stimulus that the EU Birds Directive gave to the recovery of the bittern
Andy Hay's image of Dibden Bay, a site that was saved from development by the Nature Directives
Vanellus, the mind boggles!
Seriously, though, just give us an address and a general gist and my letters will be going where they need to go.
I'm girding my loins already!