Biodiversity — Ecosystems
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Biodiversity is the name given to the variety of ecosystems (natural capital), species and genes in the world or in a particular habitat. It is essential to human wellbeing, as it delivers services that sustain our economies and societies. Biodiversity is also crucial to ecosystem services — the services that nature supplies — such as pollination, climate regulation, flood protection, soil fertility and the production of food, fuel, fibre and medicines. More
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Healthy forests, soils, seas and other ecosystems form Europe’s ‘natural capital’, which is vital for our well-being and the economy. The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) new analysis, published today, looks at how to measure the condition of Europe’s natural capital and provides a first overview of the state and trends of Europe’s ecosystems. The report also highlights the need for better data on the condition of ecosystems in Europe.
Maintaining natural capital is vital for the function of our societies and people’s well-being. A new briefing from the European Environment Agency (EEA), published today, analyses how to plan for green infrastructure and ecosystem restoration, which in turn can enhance biodiversity, support green economy and create job opportunities.
Mapping Europe’s vast land and marine ecosystems is crucial to assessing the health of the continent’s biodiversity and ensuring its future survival. That is why the European Environment Agency (EEA) is currently working on enhancing the data and knowledge of Europe’s ecosystems which will support the European Union’s work on the final evaluation of the EU biodiversity strategy in 2020.
There is a growing demand for forest products and ecosystem services but information on the changes in Europe's forests is currently limited. According to an EEA briefing, published today, high-resolution satellite images will improve knowledge about changes in structure, function and condition of forest ecosystems and the impacts of different forest management practices across Europe.
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Life in Europe’s freshwater bodies and regional seas is not doing well. The poor state of ecosystems has a direct impact on many animals and plants living in water, and it affects other species and humans, depending on clean water. The state of Europe’s seas is dire, mainly due to overfishing and climate change, while freshwater bodies suffer from excess nutrients and altered habitats. Chemical pollution negatively impacts both freshwater and marine environments.
Europe collects increasingly more data, enhancing our understanding of the environment. Earth observation data obtained through the European Union’s Copernicus programme presents new challenges and opportunities to improve our environmental knowledge. Combining up-to-date Copernicus data with our existing knowledge base, the European Environment Agency (EEA) aims to empower policy makers and citizens across Europe in taking measures to address local, national and global challenges.
Marine life, the global climate and our economy and social wellbeing all depend on healthy seas. Despite some improvements, our assessments show that the way we currently use Europe’s seas remains unsustainable. Climate change and competition for natural resources add extra pressures on the marine environment. European policies and measures could result in greater improvements when they are implemented through an ‘ecosystem-based management’ approach and are supported by a global ocean governance framework.
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Maintaining 'natural capital', i.e. ecosystems and the services they provide, is fundamental to human economic activity and well-being. The need to conserve and enhance natural capital is therefore an explicit policy target in the EU's Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and its Seventh Environment Action Programme. Approaches to measuring the stocks of natural resources that yield benefits as natural capital have gained considerable traction in recent decades. By providing regular, objective data that are consistent with wider statistical data, natural capital accounting can provide the fundamental evidence base required for informing economic and environmental decision making that delivers on these ambitions for natural capital.
Green infrastructure is a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas, which include other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. These include water purification, air quality, space for recreation and climate mitigation and adaptation. This network of green (land) and blue (water) spaces can improve environmental conditions and therefore citizens' health and quality of life. It also supports a green economy, creates job opportunities and enhances biodiversity. To maximise the benefits it provides, GI should be an essential component of spatial and physical planning. Developing GI is a key step towards successfully implementing the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy. Target 2 of the strategy requires that ‘by 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems.’
The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls on Member States to carry out a mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (MAES, Maes et al., 2013). As such, an EU-wide ecosystem assessment was launched to provide harmonised information on the condition of ecosystems and biodiversity, and their capacity to provide ecosystem services. The assessment will provide data for the final evaluation of the EU biodiversity strategy in 2020. This briefing presents recent progress in mapping broad ecosystem types and their associated habitats at European level.
Forests used to constitute the dominant natural vegetation in most of Europe, covering up to 80 % of the land surface. However, the current extent and condition of forest ecosystems are the result of the process of human appropriation (domestication), which started more than 5000 years ago. By the end of the 17th century, more than half of Europe’s original forest had disappeared and covered just a few percent of the total land area in countries such as Denmark or Ireland. In response to forest depletion, stricter forest management practices emerged to replant, protect and maintain forest cover and the multi-functionality of forests in terms of wood production and protection against, for example, soil and wind erosion.
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