Breakthrough: 27,000 natural sites will still be protected!
The European Commission has confirmed that 27,000 natural sites in Europe, including The Wadden Sea and the Veluwe region in the Netherlands, will remain protected under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
Last year, a public survey was conducted in Brussels on the value of EU nature legislation. The expectation was that mostly companies would participate in the survey in order to advocate weaker nature conservation laws and more opportunities for expansion. A first step was taken towards the termination of European nature conservation.
However, the Party for the Animals together with several nature conservation organisations mobilized thousands of nature lovers, who all participated in the survey. It paid off: the EC has now concluded that directives for nature protection purposes are essential for the conservation of the 27,000 natural sites in the Netherlands and other EU countries. So no censorship on nature, thanks to you!
MEP Anja Hazekamp feels ‘relieved’ that the EC sees the value of the existing nature legislation, and that this legislation will be maintained. However, she thinks it is ‘outrageous’ that still so many nature reserves, at both national and local level, are sacrificed in the interest of economic activities. “In Europe, only 40 percent of the original biodiversity remains; in the Netherlands, it is only 15 percent. This degradation of nature must stop and we must do everything in our power to provide the best possible protection of what is left of nature and wildlife,” according to Hazekamp.