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| The most important pieces of biodiversity legislation
in the EU are the Birds and Habitats Directives, which
provide for the establishement of the Natura 2000 Network
(see more below).However, as a Party to the Convention
on Biological Diversity, the European Community developed
its own Biodiversity Strategy and Biodiversity Action
Plans in accordance with article 6. of the Convention.
They aim to support Member States and the EU for better
integration of biodiversity considerations into sectoral
policies, such as the conservation of natural resources,
agriculture, fisheries, development and economic co-operation.
The ongoing review of the EU biodiversity policy will
produce a European Commission Communication on the delivery
of the target to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. The greatly
delayed Biodiversity Communication was launched at the
Green Week in 2006 June. Read
more about the EU biodiversity policies >> |
The Habitats Directive of the European Community provides
a framework for the establishment of the "Natura 2000",
which will include a range of important and threatened habitats.
Read more about
Natura 2000 >>
The CEEWEB has a working group, which focuses on helping
Natura 2000 network to be established and function properly
in CEE countries and working towards minimizing threats to
biodiversity in the CEE region caused by human activities.
Read about
the activities of the Natura 2000 Working Group >>
CEEWEB is a member of the European Habitats Forum (EHF),
a loose network of international non-governmental organizations
involved in the conservation, rehabilitation and sustainable
use of species, habitats and landscapes throughout Europe.
The main areas of EHF work include Habitats and Birds Directives,
Natura 2000, EU Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.
The Forum promotes nature conservation and the sustainable
use of natural resources in Europe through the Convention
on Biological Diversity and the Bern Convention, it fosters
communication between European nature conservation NGOs in
order to enhance the effectiveness of their programs. Read
more about the work of the European Habitats Forum >>
The 'Environment for Europe' (EfE) process is
an essential political framework for cooperation on environmental
issues on the continent. It covers the region of the United
Nation Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) including 55
countries, with the focus moving more to Eastern Europe and
even more in the NIS countries in the last few years. Since
1991 it regularly brings together Ministers of Environment
at Pan-European conferences to formulate environmental policy
and to take important decisions in this area as well as to
review the results achieved. A large number of conventions,
strategies and policies aiming at nature conservation have
been developed during the EfE process, among them the Pan-European
Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS). Read
more about the 'Environment for Europe' process >>
CEEWEB has been involved in the EfE process
since 1994. For a number of years CEEWEB coordinated the Biodiversity
Issue Group of Pan-European ECO-Forum that facilitates NGO
input into the EfE process; it took part in implementing and
monitoring the PEBLDS. For the second intergovernmental conference
'Biodiversity in Europe' in Budapest, February 2002, CEEWEB
and ECO-Forum organized NGO participation and input together.
The next milestone in the process was the 5th Ministerial
Conference in 2003 in Kyiv, for which CEEWEB evaluated
the progress made by CEE countries in biodiversity policy
field. In 2006 CEEWEB coordinated the NGO input into the 4th
Biodiversity in Europe conference from the CEE region
on behalf of ECO Forum.
The 6th Ministerial Conference will take
place on 10-12 October 2007 in Belgrade, where CEEWEB will
organise the biodiversity session on behalf of ECO Forum in
cooperation with PEBLDS.
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