Despite political commitment, Europe is struggling to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Forests, as the hosts of much of the biological diversity in Europe, are vital to this debate. Any initiative designed to halt the biodiversity loss in Europe must take forests into account.

Over the last few decades, crucial changes have taken place in the views and demands on forests by society at large. This includes the increased environmental awareness and recreational interests of society. These changes also affect the public’s way of looking at the traditional role of...

Recognising the importance of safeguarding biodiversity, in June 2002 the European Council of Göteborg set a target of halting its decline by 2010. Fulfilling this target has been adopted as one of the key aims of the 6th Community Action Plan for the Environment. The candidate countries have,...

The Commission wishes to provide further advice and support to Member States on how best to access and use EU funding mechanism for financing the management of the Natura 2000 network. The next phase in our awareness raising strategy is to link the use of the Guidance Handbook on financing...

This guide is to be used as a ‘beginners guide’ or first reference material by anyone who wants to gain a quick overview of CITES and the EU wildlife trade regulations and their main provisions. It is by no means exhaustive; it is intended to provide people who are new to the subject of...

This study reviews national legislations and practices regarding the implementation of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, in particular Article 6. It is based on eight national reports Belgium, France, Germany, Poland,...