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The total ecological footprint of the EU-28 countries increased rapidly during the 1960s and 1970s, and has remained relatively constant since the 1980s. However, total biocapacity — the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and absorb waste materials generated by humans, using current management schemes and extraction technologies — has changed very little since 1961. The picture is similar for the EEA-39 countries and the wider pan-European region. The constantly increasing ecological footprint coupled with decreasing biocapacity has resulted in an ever larger deficit which may have negative consequences for the environment both within and outside Europe.
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As a main source of protein, fish stocks and other sea products are renewable resources, which could sustain human needs in the long term — if exploited in an appropriate manner. The overall use of fish and shellfish stocks in Europe currently remains beyond the limit for long-term environmental sustainability. However, the analysis of long time series shows important and recent signs of improvement in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. Since the early 2000s, better management of fish and shellfish stocks has contributed to a clear decrease in fishing pressure in these two regional seas, and signs of recovery in the reproductive capacity of several fish and shellfish stocks have started to appear. If these efforts continue, meeting the 2020 objective for healthy fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea could be possible based on two of three criteria (i.e. fishing mortality and reproductive capacity). In contrast, there is small likelihood that the 2020 policy objective will be met in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
At the EU level, there has been a decrease in the agricultural nitrogen balance between 2000 and 2015, which is an indication of an improving trend. The main decrease was between 2000 and 2010; between 2010 and 2015 there was no further significant decrease. A country comparison of the average agricultural nitrogen balance for the years 2000-2003 and 2012-2015, shows that for the majority of European countries there was a reduction in the nitrogen balance, reflecting an improving trend. Although the agricultural nitrogen balance is decreasing in most Member States, it is still considered to be unacceptably high in some parts of Europe because of associated impacts on the environment. This is particularly true in western Europe and in some Mediterranean countries. Even in countries with low national averages, there can be regions with high nitrogen loadings because of agricultural intensity, such as livestock density. Further efforts are therefore needed to reduce the balance.
The total area of nationally designated protected areas in Europe [1] has increased over time and amounted to 1.5 million km 2 across 39 European countries in 2017, covering almost 26 % of terrestrial territory and inland waters. With more than 100 000 sites, though often small and fragmented, Europe has more protected areas than any other region in the world.
The coverage of ecosystem classes under the EU 'Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services' (MAES) framework was affected by change processes between 2006 and 2012, with urbanisation the most dominant process. Urban ecosystems showed the highest net increase both in the EU-28 and in the EEA-33 countries, predominantly at the expense of cropland and grassland. A very slight increase in coverage was observed in forest and woodland, while agricultural ecosystems, both cropland and grassland, continued to decrease. Vulnerable ecosystems such as heathland and sparsely vegetated land (dunes, beaches, sand plains, bare rocks and glaciers) continued to disappear between 2006 and 2012, although the loss of wetlands seems to have levelled off for the first time over the same period. It should be borne in mind, however, that approximately two thirds of European wetlands were lost before the 1990s and their area has subsequently continued to decrease.
Between 1990 and 2015, the common bird index decreased by 8 % in the 26 EU Member States that have bird population monitoring schemes. This decrease is slightly greater (9 %) if figures for Norway and Switzerland are included. The decline in common farmland bird numbers in the same period was more pronounced, at 32 % (EU) and 30 % (EU plus Norway and Switzerland). The common forest bird index decreased by 3 % (EU) and 6 % (EU plus Norway and Switzerland) over the same period. Although the decline of all common birds has levelled off slightly since 2000, no trend towards recovery has been observed in the last years and the common farmland bird index continued to show a steep decline of 16 % between 2000 and 2015. Grassland butterflies also showed a significant rate of decline in the 19 European countries where butterfly population monitoring schemes exist, at 34 % (EU) and 32 % (all countries). Between 2000 and 2015, the index decreased by 17 % (EU) and 16 % (EU + Norway and Switzerland).
Since the introduction of the Habitats Directive in 1992 and the establishment of the Natura 2000 network, there has been a steady increase in the cumulative area of the network in EU Member States. In 2017, the network covered an area of 1 322 630 km 2 , encompassing nine terrestrial and five marine biogeographical regions. The coverage of terrestrial Natura 2000 areas is 790 213 km 2 , which is 18.2 % of the EU’s land area, i.e. above the global biodiversity target for protected areas of 17 % (Aichi Target 11).
The ratio of forest fellings to increment is relatively stable and remains under 80 % for most countries across Europe. This utilisation rate has allowed Europe's forest stock to continue to increase. The average growing stock density in European forests is 163 m 3 per hectare. While this varies considerably between countries, high individual values can be mainly put down to ecological conditions that favour tree growth, the protection of forest areas and, locally, forest harvesting difficulties.
Land take as a result of the expansion of residential areas and construction sites is the main cause of the increase in urban land coverage in Europe. Agricultural zones and, to a lesser extent, forests and semi-natural and natural areas are disappearing in favour of the development of artificial surfaces. This affects biodiversity since it decreases habitats and fragments the landscapes that support and connect them. Between 2006 and 2012, the annual land take in the European countries (EEA-39) assessed in the 2012 Corine land cover (CLC) project was approximately 107 000 ha/year. The figure for the 2000-2006 period was approximately 118 000 ha/year. In the 28 countries 1 covered by all three CLC assessment periods (1990-2000, 2000-2006 and 2006-2012), annual land take decreased by 10.5 % between 2000 and 2006, and by 13.5 % between 2006 and 2012. In absolute values, the annual land take in these 28 countries was 114 000 ha/year (1990-2000), 102 000 ha/year (2000-2006) and 98 500 ha/year (2006-2012). Between 2000 and 2006, more arable land and permanent crops were taken by artificial development than between 1990 and 2000, while fewer pastures and less mosaic farmland were taken over the same period. In fact, between 2006 and 2012, the types of land most taken for artificial development were arable land and permanent crops, followed by pastures and mixed agricultural areas. 1 The 28 countries covered by all three CLC assessment periods are AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, DK, ES, EE, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, ME, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, RS, SI, SK, TR and UK.
Range shifts in forest tree species due to climate change have been observed towards higher altitudes and latitudes. These changes considerably affect the forest structure and the functioning of forest ecosystems and their services. Future climate change and increasing CO2 concentrations are expected to affect site suitability, productivity, species composition and biodiversity. In general, forest growth is projected to increase in northern Europe and to decrease in southern Europe, but with substantial regional variation. Cold-adapted coniferous tree species are projected to lose large fractions of their ranges to more drought-adapted broadleaf species. The projected changes will have an impact on the goods and services that forests provide. For example, the value of forest land in Europe is projected to decrease between 14 and 50 % during the 21st century.
Fire risk depends on many factors, including climatic conditions, vegetation, forest management practices and other socio-economic factors. The burnt area in the Mediterranean region increased from 1980 to 2000; it has decreased thereafter. In a warmer climate, more severe fire weather and, as a consequence, an expansion of the fire-prone area and longer fire seasons are projected across Europe. The impact of fire events is particularly strong in southern Europe.
The timing of seasonal events has changed across Europe. A general trend towards earlier spring phenological stages (spring advancement) has been shown in many plant and animal species, mainly due to changes in climate conditions. As a consequence of climate-induced changes in plant phenology, the pollen season starts on average 10 days earlier than it did and is longer than it was in the 1960s. The life cycles of many animal groups have advanced in recent decades, with events occurring earlier in the year, including frogs spawning, birds nesting and the arrival of migrant birds and butterflies. This advancement is attributed primarily to a warming climate. The breeding season of many thermophilic insects (such as butterflies, dragonflies and bark beetles) has been lengthening, allowing, in principle, more generations to be produced per year. The observed trends are expected to continue into the future. However, simple extrapolations of current phenological trends may be misleading because the observed relationship between temperature and phenological events may change in the future.
Observed climate change is having significant impacts on the distribution of European flora and fauna, with distribution changes of several hundred kilometres projected over the 21st century. These impacts include northwards and uphill range shifts, as well as local and regional extinctions of species. The migration of many species is lagging behind the changes in climate owing to intrinsic limitations, habitat use and fragmentation, and other obstacles, suggesting that they are unable to keep pace with the speed of climate change. Observed and modelled differences between actual and required migration rates may lead to a progressive decline in European biodiversity. Climate change is likely to exacerbate the problem of invasive species in Europe. As climatic conditions change, some locations may become more favourable to previously harmless alien species, which then become invasive and have negative impacts on their new environments. Climate change is affecting the interaction of species that depend on each other for food or other reasons. It can disrupt established interactions but also generate novel ones.
Progress towards the 2020 target of improving the conservation status of habitats covered by the EU Habitats Directive has not been substantial since 2010. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends. At the EU level, only 16 % of the assessments of habitats protected under the Habitats Directive have a favourable conservation status. Bogs, mires and fens have the highest proportion of unfavourable assessments, followed closely by grasslands. Conservation status trends are quite variable across biogeographic regions, however, more habitats are stable than decreasing in the terrestrial regions. There are still significant gaps in knowledge on marine habitat types. At the EU Member State level, the majority of assessments indicate a low number of habitats with a favourable conservation status.
The 2020 target of improving the conservation status of species covered by the Habitats Directive seems to have been met. This apparent progress, however, is largely attributable to improved data and changes in methodology. Similarly, there has been little progress towards the target for bird populations under the Birds Directive. This indicates that significant conservation efforts need to be implemented to revert current trends. At the EU level, 23 % of the assessments of species protected under the Habitats Directive indicate a favourable conservation status. At the same time, 60 % of species assessments are unfavourable. There are still significant gaps in knowledge, especially for marine species. Fish, molluscs and amphibians have a particularly high proportion of species that exhibit a deteriorating trend. The conservation status of species varies considerably from one biogeographic region to another. At Member State level, more unfavourable assessments are showing a decline than those that are improving. In the EU, over half of the bird species listed in the Birds Directive are considered to be ‘secure’, i.e. they show no foreseeable risk of extinction, decline or depletion. On the other hand, 17 % of the species listed are still threatened and another 15 % are declining or depleted.
The majority of European Union citizens have heard of the term "biodiversity", but less than one third know what it means. Additionally, most do not feel informed about biodiversity loss. However, at least eight out of ten Europeans consider the various effects of biodiversity loss to be serious. About a quarter of respondents have heard of Natura 2000 network, including 16 % who say they have heard about it but don't know what it is.
By the end of 2012, EU Member States had designated 5.9 %, or a total of 338 000 km 2 , of their seas as part of a complex network of marine protected areas. As such, the EU had not reached Aichi target 11 of 10 % coverage of its seas. However, the target was reached in certain regional seas (Baltic Sea, the Greater North Sea including the Kattegat and the English Channel, and the Western Mediterranean Sea)
European ‘core natural/semi-natural’ lands became more fragmented in most countries and on average between 2000 and 2006. Their 1 km 2 surroundings developed towards a ‘mixed natural’ and/or ‘some natural’ mosaic pattern with agriculture and/or artificial lands. During this time period, the loss of the core natural landscape pattern, due to the spread of artificial and/or agricultural areas, occurred particularly in parts of southern (southwestern Spain, southern Portugal, Sicily), western (Great Britain), central (western Austria) and eastern (western Romania) Europe. In 2006, 35% of European forest lands were fragmented i.e. distributed as a mixed landscape mosaic pattern where forest is intermingled with natural/semi-natural non forested lands, agriculture and artificial lands in their 1 km 2 surroundings. On average in Europe, between the years 2000 and 2006, forests in a ‘core natural’ landscape pattern became more fragmented towards a mixed landscape mosaic pattern, even if this trend was not observed for more than one third of European countries. Although more than 40% of European landscape units reported a net forest area increase during between 2000 and 2006, only in one third of the units did this gain result in a significant increase in forest connectivity. In most countries, the trend of the units in a high connectivity range was either stable or showed a decrease during this period. Landscapes with poorly connected woodlands represented more than 60% of the EU in 2006.
The main pathways for marine non-indigenous species (NIS) introduction in Europe´s seas are shipping (51%) and the Suez Canal (37%). These are followed by aquaculture related activities (17%) and, to a much lesser extent, aquarium trade (3%) and inland canals (2%). This is a pattern observed in all regional seas, except for the Eastern Mediterranean where introductions via the Suez Canal exceed those by shipping. Trends in pathways show an increasing rate of introductions by shipping and corridors (in particular the Suez canal) since the 1990s, while aquaculture mediated introductions have been decreasing since the 2000s. This can be attributed to the adoption of effective EU regulation. Aquarium trade emerges as a lower but increasing pathway since the 2000s.
Available data shows that the seas around Europe currently harbor 1 416 non-indigenous species (NIS), almost 81% (1 143) of which have been introduced after 1950. These consist mostly of invertebrates (approx. 63%). The rate of new introductions of NIS is continually increasing with 323 new species recorded since 2000 at pan-European level. An increase in NIS introductions is observed for all regional seas. The most affected seas are in the Mediterranean, in particular in the Aegean-Levantine Sea. In this region over 160 new species have been recorded from 2000 to 2010.
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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/biodiversity/indicators or scan the QR code.
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