Publications

Nationally designated protected areas (SEBI 007) - Assessment published May 2010: The total area of nationally designated protected areas in Europe (2) has increased over time. The total area of nationally designated sites in 39 European countries was around 1 million square kilometres in 2007. In EECCA countries, the total area of nationally designated sites is at least 1.8 million square kilometres (for 30 % of sites no size information is available). This quantitative information needs to be complemented by a qualitative assessment of the effectiveness as a tool for conserving biodiversity, including good management practices, and representativeness of the network of designated areas. (2) A 'Nationally Designated Area' is an area designated by a national instrument based on national legislation. If a country has included in its legislation the sites designated under the EU Birds and Habitats Directive, the Natura 2000 sites of this country are included in the total area.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Nationally designated protected areas
Nutrients in transitional, coastal and marine waters (SEBI 015) - Assessment published May 2010: In countries that reported data, 85 % of stations reported no changes in oxidised nitrogen levels in transitional, coastal and marine waters in the period 1985 - 2005 and 82 % reported no change for orthophosphate. At stations that identified changes, decreases were more common than increases.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Nutrients in transitional, coastal and marine waters
Patent applications based on genetic resources (SEBI 024) - Assessment published May 2010: Biodiversity has served as a major resource for patent activity across a wide swathe of science and technology sectors ranging from agriculture to cosmetics, functional foods, traditional medicines, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and emerging developments such as synthetic biology. About 9 % of European patent activity relates to biodiversity, rising to 16 % if the full spectrum of pharmaceutical activity is included. After rapid growth, patent activity for biodiversity now shows a declining trend. The decrease from 2005 seen in Figure 1 is due to the time lag between the filing of a patent and its publication (2 years and more). This means that for recent years, the data may not yet be in the database (see Oldham and Hall, 2009). Additional work is required to link the data with wider economic and geographical information.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Patent applications based on genetic resources
Public awareness (SEBI 026) - Assessment published May 2010: Two-thirds of EU citizens do not know the meaning of the word 'biodiversity', let alone understand what the threats and challenges to its conservation are. Most EU citizens have never heard of the Natura 2000 network (80 %). However, over two-thirds of EU citizens report personally making efforts to help preserve nature.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Public awareness
Red List Index for European species (SEBI 002) - Assessment published May 2010: To date, the Red List Index has been calculated only for bird species at a European level, so the information in the current indicator is limited to European birds. The overall risk of extinction among Europe's birds has generally been on the rise over the last decade. While the status of some species has due to conservation action, many more have deteriorated because of worsening threats and/or declining populations.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Red List Index for European species
Sites designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives (SEBI 008) - Assessment published May 2010: By mid-2008, most EU Member States were close to reaching the target levels for designation of Natura 2000 sites thought necessary to protect habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive. Twentyone countries had a sufficiency of above 80 % and the new Member States (EU-10+2) were doing well given their recent accession. This is measured against a threshold that is considered adequate to achieve a favourable conservation status for the species and habitats of concern.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Sites designated under the EU Habitats and Birds Directives
Species of European interest (SEBI 003/CSI 007) - Assessment published May 2010: Around half of the species of Community interest (those species which, within the territory of the European Union are listed in Annexes II, IV and V of the Habitats Directive) have an unfavourable conservation status, with variation across biogeographic regions (1) . There are still significant gaps in knowledge, especially for marine species. (1) The reporting format uses three classes of Conservation Status. 'Good' (green) signifies that the species or habitat is at Favourable Conservation Status (FCS) as defined in the Directive and the habitat or species can be expected to prosper without any change to existing management or policies. In addition, two classes of 'Unfavourable' are recognised: 'Unfavourable-Bad' (red) signifies that the habitat or species is in serious danger of becoming extinct (at least locally) and 'Unfavourable-Inadequate' (amber) is used for situations where a change in management or policy is required but the danger of extinction is not so high. The unfavourable category has been split into two classes to allow improvements or deterioration to be reported. (Assessment, monitoring and reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive: Explanatory Notes & Guidelines DRAFT 2 January 2006).
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Species of European interest
Invasive alien species indicators in Europe - a review of Streamlining European Biodiversity (SEBI) Indicator 10: To support the 'Streamlining European 2010 Biodiversity Indicators' (SEBI 2010) process, the European Environment Agency (EEA) commissioned a study to revisit and further develop the indicator 'Invasive alien species in Europe'. The aim of the current project is to critically review and improve this indicator, and propose an updated methodology. Further, options for methodologies of new indicators, which monitor IAS over time across Europe, will be discussed. Particular attention is given to closely linking the indicator(s) to recent biodiversity policy goals and developments.
Located in Publications
Nationally designated protected areas (SEBI 007) - Assessment published Jun 2011: The total area of nationally-designated protected areas in Europe (1) has increased over time. The total area of nationally designated sites in 39 European countries was more than 1 million square kilometres in 2009. In Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA countries), the area of nationally designated sites is at least 1.5 million square kilometres. 1.2 million square kilometres can be added to the area in the EECCA countries, the information about the year of the designation is missing, however (2). This quantitative information needs to be complemented by a qualitative assessment of the efficiency and the representativeness of the network of designated areas including good management practices. A "Nationally designated area" is an area designated by a national designation instrument based on national legislation. If a country has included in its legislation the sites designated under the EU Birds and Habitats directive, the Natura 2000 sites of this country are included in the figure. For 39 European countries, there is 0,037 km2 of additional designated areas but without any information of designation year. For the EECCA countries, for 25 % of sites included in the database, no size information is available.
Located in Data and maps › Indicators › Nationally designated protected areas
Measuring biodiversity with indicators – new report describes SEBI approach: The continuing loss of biodiversity – made up of genes, species and ecosystems – is a matter of growing concern in Europe. Yet measuring the extent of the loss and the threat it poses is a huge challenge.
Located in News