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Our Natural Europe: conservation stories show importance of local action — Jun 17, 2013: When fishermen in the Koster Sea in Southern Sweden understood the value of the ecosystems beneath the waves, they voluntarily agreed to change fishing practices. The area became Sweden’s first marine national park in 2006.
Is there a protected area near you? Find out on UN Biodiversity Day — May 22, 2013: Protected areas cover more than one fifth of the land in the 39 countries working with the European Environment Agency (EEA). On International Biodiversity Day, the EEA encourages Europeans to find out more about their closest nature reserve or national park using a new interactive map.
EEA land cover data to be used in mobile phone maps — Dec 13, 2012: Data on land use provided by the European Environment Agency (EEA) is soon to be included in electronic maps used for navigation in mobile phones and other devices.
Protected areas have increased to cover one fifth of Europe’s land — Oct 23, 2012: More than 21 % of the land has some kind of protected status in the 39 countries which work with the European Environment Agency (EEA). However, only 4 % of the sea controlled by countries of the European Union is included within the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, according to a new report from the EEA.
Managing water and human activities together — Aug 24, 2012: River basins, lakes, floodplains and marshes often span political and administrative boundaries. This creates challenges in the management of Europe's water resources, according to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), which recommends better integration of coordinated spatial planning and water management.
Soil protection critical for Europe's economy and ecosystems — Feb 14, 2012: Soil is one of the planet's invaluable resources but continues to be degraded in Europe. Together, the mineral particles, water, air, organic matter, and living organisms that constitute soil perform key functions which underpin our society.
Increasing fragmentation of landscape threatens European wildlife — Sep 05, 2011: Roads, motorways, railways, intensive agriculture and urban developments are breaking up Europe’s landscapes into ever-smaller pieces, with potentially devastating consequences for flora and fauna across the continent, according to a new joint report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The report, 'Landscape fragmentation in Europe', demonstrates how areas of land are often unable to support high levels of biodiversity when they are split into smaller and smaller parcels.
Commission and EEA sign agreement to provide detailed information on land cover in Europe — May 25, 2011: The European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Commission (EC) have signed an agreement to provide information on land cover in Europe, compiling data from land, air and space. The agreement was signed on May 25, during a Green Week event in Brussels.
Land use conflicts necessitate integrated policy — Mar 29, 2011: Demand for land in Europe is high. Food and biomass production, housing, infrastructure and recreation all compete for space, with impacts on our climate, biodiversity and ecosystem services. In a recent assessment, the European Environment Agency (EEA) analyses land use change in Europe, concluding that we need an integrated policy approach based on reliable data to balance sectoral demands and manage land sustainably.
World Forest Day highlights multiple threats on forests — Mar 21, 2011: Forests cover over 30 % of the earth's surface. They are one of the most important 'storehouses' of biological diversity on land and play a key role in regulating our planet's climate. Their importance and the wide array of threats on world's forests are in the spotlight during the World Forest Day 21 March and the UN International Year of Forests 2011.
Disasters in Europe: more frequent and causing more damage — Jan 12, 2011: The number and impacts of disasters have increased in Europe in the period 1998-2009, a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) concludes. The report assesses the frequency of disasters and their impacts on humans, the economy and ecosystems and calls for better integrated risk disaster management across Europe.
Protecting Europe's cultural landscapes and biodiversity heritage — Sep 27, 2010: European landscapes reflect not only the continent's diverse climate and geology but also centuries of interaction between man and nature. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) study reviews this interplay, highlighting the main threats to this rich heritage and initiatives to protect it.
Recognising the true value of Europe's mountains — Sep 15, 2010: Mountains have contributed to shaping not only Europe's history, society and economy, but also its climate and environment. A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) provides an in-depth analysis of populations, ecosystems, water cycles, land cover and policies in mountain areas.
Europe's mountains: rich in biodiversity but increasingly vulnerable — Jul 28, 2010: Snow-capped peaks, rocky inclines, rich forests and sloping meadows provide recreation and economic opportunities for humans and a home to many plants and animals. The European Environment Agency's new assessment of mountain ecosystems sheds light on their state and the pressures they face.
How Europe's agriculture can boost biodiversity — Jun 30, 2010: Intensive farming has long been a major cause of biodiversity decline in Europe. The European Environment Agency's (EEA) new short assessment examines Europe's efforts to strike a balance between producing sufficient food and maintaining agro-ecosystems that are rich in biodiversity above and below ground.
Check out Europe's 'Urban Atlas' — Apr 15, 2010: How densely populated is your city? Where are the green areas and transport networks? The European Environment Agency (EEA) now hosts detailed maps and land cover information for the 117 European cities currently included in the new 'Urban Atlas'.
Biodiversity and forest ecosystems in Europe — Apr 06, 2010: Forests offer much more than Sunday walks, clean air and water, wild birds and mushrooms. In addition to being home to numerous species, forests are vital to the overall health of our environment. The European Environment Agency's (EEA) new short assessment provides an overview of their state and their main threats.
EEA set to improve data flows for GMES — Feb 12, 2010: The European Environment Agency (EEA) has started coordinating data flows from ground, sea and air observations, which will be used for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) services. Building on existing mechanisms and capacities, EEA will develop an innovative and sustainable framework to make the data accessible.
Consumption patterns need to change to cope with growing cities — Sep 20, 2008: Urban areas are spreading, minimising the time and distances between and in-and-out of cities. The International Planning Congress in Dalian, China, addressed this ‘urban sprawl’ and sought ways to achieve sustainable urbanisation. The European Environment Agency contributed to this debate by urging policy makers to tackle underpinning consumption patterns.
Understanding the full value of biodiversity loss — May 29, 2008: Accounting for all the benefits we gain from ecosystems is an effective way of measuring how biodiversity loss affects our well-being and quality of life. The European Environment Agency is feeding into the debate on the 'economics of ecosystems and biodiversity' with an extensive study on 'Ecosystems accounts for Mediterranean wetlands'.
Discover Europe's landscape through satellite and ground-level pictures — Mar 18, 2008: The LUCAS viewer, a new mapping tool managed by the European Environment Agency, now allows users to see land-cover information based on satellite images as well as thumbnail-size photographs taken in sampled locations across Europe.
Explore Europe's changing landscape — Feb 19, 2008: What does Europe use its land for? Where are farmlands, urban areas and forests? How has Europe's land cover changed over a decade?
Getting the most out of Europe's bioenergy potential — Jan 29, 2008: A new report by the European Environment Agency confirms that there is a large potential for bioenergy production from agricultural biomass in Europe. However, the increasing demand for biofuels raises concerns about additional pressure on Europe’s environment and farmland biodiversity.
Counting the cost of climate change — Dec 19, 2007: The future economic costs of climate change — known as the costs of inaction — will be significant in Europe, says a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report, released today.
New toolkit for biodiversity conservation — SEBI 2010 set of indicators launched — Oct 12, 2007: To help policy-makers halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe, the European Environment Agency today launched a report proposing 26 biodiversity indicators — the so-called SEBI 2010 set — to measure progress towards policy targets. The work with biodiversity indicators was given further recognition in the Biodiversity Declaration adopted on Thursday at the UNECE ministerial conference in Belgrade.
European Topic Centre for Land Use and Spatial Information opens in Barcelona — Jun 07, 2007: The new European Topic Centre for Land Use and Spatial Information (ETC/LUSI) was inaugurated today at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. The European Environment Agency's Executive Director, Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, joined the Spanish Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, and dignitaries from both Catalonia and Andalucia for the event. ETC/LUSI is an international consortium assisting the European Environment Agency in its mission to deliver information on the state and trends of the European environment to policy-makers and the general public. The consortium will also work with Spanish authorities and organisations, helping to reflect pan-European developments at regional and national level.
PRELUDE - interactive land use scenarios - officially launched — Nov 29, 2006: PRELUDE, an EEA scenarios study that explores future European landscapes, has been officially launched in Brussels and on the EEA website.
Corine land cover 2000 — Dec 10, 2004: This video news release presents Corine land cover 2000 - a multipurpose land use dataset based on satellite imaging and data input from most of the European countries, many of them members of the European Environment Agency. CLC 2000 offers a data set that is consistent across Europe and allows users to see land cover and land use changes over the past decade.