Biodiversity: state of habitats and species

• Most of Europe's protected habitats and species are not in good condition. Around 81% of protected habitats, 39% of birds and 62% of other protected species assessed under the EU Nature Directives are in poor or bad conservation status. 
• Freshwater ecosystems remain under pressure. Less than 40% of Europe's rivers, lakes and coastal waters are in good or high ecological status. This share has changed little since 2015, showing that
• Natura 2000 is the world's largest coordinated network of protected areas. By the end of 2023, it covered 18.6% of the EU's land area and 10.5% of its marine area. Ensuring these sites are effectively managed is key to conserving Europe's habitats and species.
• Europe is making progress in tackling invasive alien species. Between 2019 and 2024, EU Member States carried out more than 300 rapid eradication actions, around 60% of which were successful. However, new introductions and further spread remain likely.

Starting with the key nature directives (Habitats and Birds Directives), EU Member States have been conserving habitats and species for decades. Progress has been made, but current trends show that Europe needs a more comprehensive and ambitious approach.

To this end, the EU adopted the biodiversity strategy for 2030 — one of the key components of the European Green Deal. This long-term plan aims to protect and restore nature and reverse ecosystem degradation. The strategy also aims to put Europe's biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030 to benefit people, the climate and the planet. To achieve this, the strategy presents the steps needed for this transformative change.

Goals set in the 2030 biodiversity strategy include:

• Increasing organic farming by 25%;
• Restoring at least 25,000 km of rivers to a free-flowing river;
• Protecting at least 30% of the EU’s land and 30% of its sea;
• Incorporating biodiversity reporting into businesses and guiding investments toward greener options;
• Making the EU the global leader in restoring biodiversity and pushing for the EU 2030 targets to be incorporated at the global level — which already happened at the UN Biodiversity conference COP15 in Montréal, Canada..

Other policy initiatives include the Farm to Fork strategy, the circular economy action plan and the EU strategy on adaptation to climate change, which are all core elements of the European Green Deal.

Recently, the European Union adopted the Nature Restoration Law, which aims at intensifying and accelerating the efforts to improve the conservation status of the habitats targeted under the Habitats and Birds Directives. It also sets targets for the restoration of additional habitats and ecosystems outside the Natura 2000 network.