As a main source of protein, commercial fish stocks and other commercial sea products are renewable resources, which could sustain human needs in the long term — if exploited in an appropriate manner.
Although further improvements are still necessary, the analysis of long time series shows clear and important signs of improvement in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. At least 24-47 % of all stocks meet at least one of two criteria defining the Marine Strategy Framework Directive's 'good environmental status' (GES) in the regions respectively. Meeting these criteria means that the exploitation (i.e. fishing mortality, F) and reproductive capacity of the stocks are compatible with their maximum sustainable yield (MSY). While slightly less than half of all stocks in the region have adequate assessments allowing comparisons with at least one of the GES criteria (83% of these met at least one criterion), these assessed stocks account for approximately 75% of the landings in the NEA and Baltic Sea. Since the early 2000s, better management of fish and shellfish fisheries has contributed to a clear decrease in fishing pressure in these two regional seas, with the average fishing mortality close to F MSY in 2018. This has led to signs of recovery in the reproductive capacity of several fish and shellfish stocks. If these efforts continue, fishing mortality in the region on average should remain near F MSY and reproductive capacity should continue to improve towards the objective for healthy fish and shellfish stocks in the North-East Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea.
In contrast, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea the situation remains critical. Only six out of 70 stocks (8.6 %) in the Mediterranean Sea and none of the 7 stocks in the Black Sea meet at least one of the GES criteria in these regions. This is mainly due to the prevalence of overfishing and a significant lack of knowledge of the reproductive capacity state of fish and shellfish stocks. Most of the stocks considered in the Mediterranean Sea had adequate assessment to compare fishing mortality with the GES criterion, but few had measures or thresholds of reproductive capacity. In the Black Sea, five of the seven stocks had adequate assessments to evaluate fishing mortality but only one of these also had measures or thresholds for reproductive capacity. It is unlikely that the 2020 policy objective has been met in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Given this context, the 2020 objective of having healthy commercial fish and shellfish populations is unlikely to have been met in Europe’s seas and further collective action is required.
Climate change has increased forest fire risk across Europe. Even so, the burnt area of the Mediterranean region has decreased slightly since 1980, indicating that fire control efforts have been effective. However, in recent years, forest fires have affected regions in central and northern Europe not typically prone to fires, and, in 2018, more countries suffered large fires than ever before, coinciding with record droughts and heatwaves. An expansion of fire-prone areas and longer fire seasons are projected in most European regions, so additional adaptation measures are needed.
Birds and butterflies are sensitive to environmental change and can indicate the health of the environment. Long-term monitoring shows significant declines in farmland birds and grassland butterflies. Between 1990 and 2019, the index of 168 common birds decreased by 8% in the 25 EU Member States with monitoring schemes. The decline in common farmland birds over the same period was much more pronounced at 27%, while the common forest bird index increased by 5%. Between 1991 and 2018 the grassland butterfly index also declined strongly, by 25%, in the 19 EU countries with monitoring data.
At EU level, only 27 % of species assessments have a good conservation status, with 63 % having a poor or bad conservation status. Only 6 % of all species have improving trends. Reptiles and vascular plants have the highest proportion of good conservation status. The EU did not meet its 2020 target to improve the conservation status of EU protected species and habitats. At Member State level, a large proportion of assessments show few species with a good conservation status. Agriculture, urban sprawl, forestry and pollution are the pressures on species reported most.
The area and number of terrestrial protected areas in Europe have grown steadily over time, with the biggest increases in recent decades. In 2020, protected areas covered 26 % of EU land, with 18 % designated as Natura 2000 sites and 8 % as other national designations. In the EEA-38 countries plus the United Kingdom, this coverage is lower and amounts to 23 %.
Further expansion of terrestrial protected areas will be needed to achieve the target of legally protecting a minimum of 30 % of EU land, as set out in the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. The designation of protected areas is not in itself a guarantee of biodiversity conservation. Effective management requires building a coherent and well-connected network of protected areas with clearly defined conservation objectives and measures.
At the EU level, only 15 % of habitat assessments have a good conservation status, with 81 % having poor or bad conservation status. Grasslands, dunes, and bog, mire and fen habitats show strong deteriorating trends, while forests have the most improving trends.
The EU is not on track to meet the 2020 target of improving the conservation status of EU protected species and habitats. At the EU Member State level, the majority of assessments indicate a low number of habitats with a good conservation status. Intensive agriculture, urban sprawl and pollution are the top reported pressures to habitats.
Monitoring vegetation response to water deficit due to droughts is necessary to be able to introduce effective measures to increase the resilience of ecosystems in line with the EU’s nature restoration plan — a key element of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. Between 2000 and 2016, Europe was affected by severe droughts, causing average yearly vegetation productivity losses covering around 121 000 km 2 . This was particularly notable in 2003, when drought affected most parts of Europe, covering an estimated 330 000 km 2 of forests, non-irrigated arable land and pastures. Drought impact was also relatively severe in 2005 and 2012.
Since the adoption of the Habitats Directive in 1992 and the creation of the Natura 2000 network, the cumulative area of the network has steadily increased in EU Member States. In 2019, the network covered an area of 1 358 125 km 2 , encompassing nine biogeographical regions.
The coverage of terrestrial Natura 2000 areas was 784 994 km 2 in 2019, which is 18 % of the EU’s land area. This is more than the global biodiversity target for protected areas, which aims to conserve at least 17 % of terrestrial and inland water areas by 2020 (Aichi Target 11).
The total ecological footprint of the EU-27 Member States plus the United Kingdom is high and is now more than twice the biocapacity available in the region (i.e. the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to act as sinks of carbon emissions). The picture is similar for the EEA-39 countries.
The region’s high ecological footprint means that its total demand for ecological goods and services exceeds that which Europe’s ecosystems can supply. This results in a large ecological deficit, which has negative consequences for the environment within and outside Europe.
Vegetation productivity indicates the spatial distribution and change of the vegetation cover - a key characteristic of ecosystem condition.
Vegetation productivity in Europe on average has a regional pattern of increase and decline. Increase was observed most in South Eastern Europe, over croplands and wetlands in the Steppic region and grasslands and sparsely vegetated lands and in the Black Sea and Anatolian regions. Decline happened most over croplands and grasslands in the Atlantic region as well as over wetlands in the Alpine region.
Climate has important influence on vegetation productivity in Europe. Strongest driver is precipitation, especially in the South Eastern regions. Decreasing number of frost days increased productivity in the Pannonian region but decreased productivity in the Atlantic region.
Climatic variations are important drivers of vegetation productivity, but land use changes are even stronger. Productivity was most increased by agricultural land management and converting other lands to agriculture, whereas largest decrease was caused by sprawling urban areas.
Recognition and understanding of the term 'biodiversity' has increased in the European Union. 71 % of interviewed EU citizens have heard of biodiversity and over 41 % of these know what it means.
At least eight out of ten Europeans consider the various effects of biodiversity loss to be serious for humans and for nature and agree that it is important to halt its loss. The biggest perceived threats to biodiversity are pollution of air, soil and water, man-made disasters and climate change.
Just under a third of respondents are aware of the Natura 2000 network, including 19 % who say they have heard about it but do not know what it is. However, the overwhelming majority agree that nature protection areas are very important in protecting endangered animals and plants or safeguarding nature's role in providing food, clean air and water.
Most Europeans are not willing to trade damage or destruction of protected areas for economic development.
Despite a reduction in the last decade (land take was over 1000km2/year between 2000-2006), land take in EU28 still amounted to 539km2/year between 2012-2018.
The net land take concept combines land take with land return to non-artificial land categories (re-cultivation). While some land was re-cultivated in the EU-28 in the period 2000-2018, 11 times more land was taken.
Between 2000 and 2018, 78 % of land take in the EU-28 affected agricultural areas, i.e. arable lands and pastures, and mosaic farmlands.
From 2000 to 2018, land take consumed 0.6 % of all arable lands and permanent crops, 0.5 % of all pastures and mosaic farmlands, and 0.3 % of all grasslands into urban areas.
In proportion to their area, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Albania saw the largest amount of land take between 2000 and 2018.
The re-cultivation of land increased from 2012 to 2018, led by Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
The main drivers of land take during 2000-2018 were industrial and commercial land use as well as extension of residential areas and construction sites.
Available data show that around 1 223 non-indigenous species (NIS) are present in the Europe’s seas, of which almost 81% (1 039) were recorded in the period 1949-2017. The species in question consist mostly of invertebrates (approx. 63 %).
The number of NIS is highest in the Mediterranean Sea, where almost 69 % (838) of all NIS have been recorded. A total of 21% (256) were recorded in the North-East Atlantic Ocean, 5 % (66) in the Baltic Sea and 3 % (32) in the Black Sea.
Mean numbers of new NIS recorded in the period of 2006-2011 (calculated for 6 yearly periods) were 28 species per year. The rate of new NIS recording slowed down to 16 species per year during the 2012-2017 period.
More than 80 of NIS species were identified as 'invasive alien species' (IAS) with a high potential to negative impact biodiversity and cause economic and social consequences.
Concentrations of eight hazardous substances in European seas were generally 'low' or 'moderate' in line with the results of the previous assessment (2015). In some cases, however, the way we have traditionally defined 'moderate' levels meant that EU environmental quality standards (EQS) were exceeded. Any concentrations of hazardous substances exceeding EQS are unacceptable for marine organisms.
In general, concentrations in European Seas were 'moderate' for cadmium, mercury, lead, hexachlorobenzene, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), polychlorinated biphenyls and benzo[a]pyrene. Both 'moderate' and 'high' concentrations of mercury exceeded the EQS and were found in a significant proportion of all seas. 'High' concentrations for hexachlorobenzene and benzo[a]pyrene, exceeding the EQS particularly in the case of the latter, were also found across all seas. Concentrations of lindane (gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane) were 'high' in the Mediterranean sea and generally low elsewhere.
Polychlorinated biphenyl levels appear to be decreasing in the North-East Atlantic Ocean. This suggests that policy measures and initiatives to decrease inputs of these substances in the region have had some success. For the remaining seven hazardous substances, it appears that the impact of abatement policies in this region might have stabilised.
Abatement policies for all eight hazardous substances have been in effect for the Baltic Sea, but no downward trends could be identified in the current assessment, indicating that the impact of such policies might have stabilised.
Because of insufficient data coverage, a comprehensive assessment all eight hazardous substances for the Mediterranean Sea could not be conducted. Available data for this region indicates that policies to reduce pollution have had an impact 'though.
The Black Sea is not included in this assessment due to lack of data.
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-39 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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Since 2000, an overall increase of deadwood has been observed in several countries, a sign of more biodiversity-friendly management practices, but also of large disturbances such as storms.
Agricultural nitrogen surpluses (the difference between all nutrient inputs and outputs on agricultural land) show a declining trend, thereby potentially reducing environmental pressures on soil, water and air. Many countries, however, still maintain a large surplus.
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