European Habitats Forum (EHF) Meeting, Brussels, 29th-30th March 2004

by Richard Lindsay

The European Habitats Forum is the umbrella body for international environmental organisations concerned with nature conservation and sustainable use of Europe’s spcies, habitats and landscapes. It was established some years ago at the instigation of the European Commission as a means of enabling the Commission to talk to as wide a range of environmental organisations as possible through one representative body. Since then, the EHF has become an effective means of ensuring that the member environmental organisations communicate and co-ordinate their respective activities to each other. The EHF membership embraces organisations such as WWF, Eurosite, IUCN, Planta Europa, and the European Environment Bureau (EEB). Through Birdlife International alone, the EHF can boast 1 million members, and is thus recognised as a powerfully co-ordinated voice for nature conservation within Europe as a whole (not just the European Union).

  The IMCG was invited (through Michael Steiner) to join the EHF shortly after the EHF was first established, and has remained a member since that time. Membership enables the IMCG to ensure that peatland conservation issues are considered within the activities of fellow EHF members. It also gives direct access to the EU Environment Directorate (DGXI) at least twice a year, when the EHF meets with DGXI officials to review progress over a whole range of issues. Membership also provides the opportunity for IMCG to take part in (as part of EHF) events either at EU or at pan-European level and thus ensure that peatland conservation issues are not overlooked during such events.

  On 29th March, the EHF met in Brussels at the IUCN office, and discussed a range of internal business. On 30th March the EHF was invited to its twice-yearly meeting with DGXI. A number of head-points of potential interest to IMCG members emerged from these meetings:

  -         It was agreed that the major issues for the EHF to tackle in the short-to-medium-term will be pressure to weaken the EU Habitats and Birds Directives (active steps are already being taken by several countries to reduce the strength of these Directives), landscape fragmentation through urban expansion and development, marine conservation, and agricultural intensification (though perhaps to a lesser extent thanks to CAP Reform).  

-         When the new EU Accession Countries (known as EU10) join on May 1st, the EU Topic Centre will look at the proposed lists of Natura 2000 sites (N2K) when they arrive from the EU10 countries, and will return them if obviously insufficient. Biogeographic seminars will only be held once the lists look reasonable. PLEASE, put any communication/complaint about these lists to DGXI in English, as they do not have the language capacity for all EU10 countries.  

-         EHF has two guaranteed seats on the European Commission’s Scientific Working Group (SWG). One of these is taken by the EHF Secretariat, but the other will be filled by the most appropriate specialist from EHF membership. Requests may thus be made for specialist representation. IMCG has been represented on the SWG in the past, but not in recent years. The next meeting is 22nd September.  

-         The present round of LIFE funding for 2005 will go ahead, although if it is delayed then it will be rolled into 2006 and a composite budget will be approved for 2005/2006. However, the whole financial framework is changing from 2007. The large number of EU budgets will be reduced to a few, with sub-heads. As integration of environmental issues into all activities is seen as a good thing, it is proposed that Structural and Agricultural/Rural Development Funds are used to address environmental issues. It is vital that any influence on the overall planning for these funds is applied in the next year or so, because otherwise these massive funds will be allocated to ‘development’ initiatives instead.  

-         This is a particular concern because funding explicitly for environmental issues will be somewhat limited from 2007, and is aimed mainly at ‘soft’ topics such as communcation and networking. It is recognised by DGXI that certain habitats are not subject to ‘land-use’ in the traditional sense (e.g. bogs, or sand-dunes) and may thus need some explicit ‘hard’ funding within future DGXI financial instruments, but this is still being debated within DGXI. All of you who have enjoyed funding through LIFE peatland projects in the past should be very, very worried…  

-         Some Member States are saying that, because there will be little explicit EC funding, the environment is clearly not a priority. They are wrong, because the principle of the Habitats Directive is that MSs should meet funding needs from their own budgets. DGXI will tell them so, but it would extremely helpful if NGOs were also to emphasise this message. Consequently IMCG members should be as vocal as possible about both domestic funding for peatland conservation, and future funding for peatland conservation through the new Financial Instruments.  

-         Indeed the messages coming from the new accession countries suggest that the environment is not a high priority for these new Member States. This message is already having a major impact on general thinking about environmental issues within the European Commission. It is vital that EU10 states express a much greater interest in the environment, otherwise the long-term picture for environmental issues within the European Union as a whole looks bleak.  

-         EU-funded research into biodiversity is also suffering from lack of support – not from the European Commission, but from those who carry out research. When there is a general call for EU research proposals into biodiversity, there has been little interest shown by academic/research institutes. The European Commission is thus further encouraged to believe that environmental issues are of little interest and should thus be a low priority. If this continues, the medium-long term effects could be disastrous for nature conservation within the EU, so grab those peatland biodiversity research ideas you have and take them to the European Commission.  

-         For those seeking to link their particular peatland conservation actions with specific events or initiatives, IUCN has initiated what it calls “Countdown to 2010”, which is designed to focus attention upon biodiversity targets (see IUCN’s web-site for more details). Planta Europa will be holding its next conference from 17th – 20th September, in Valencia, in particular seeking trend-data for plant species. There will also be a World Conservation Congress in Bangkok in November 2004, and an EU Green Week will be held in Brussels, 1 – 5 June, 2004.  

-         In terms of conservation casework, windfarms have become a major topic of controversy within DGXI because of the tensions created between those seeking to protect birds and habitats from the impacts of windfarm development, and those seeking to encourage large-scale renweable energy programmes. More information about the issue would be welcomed, from whatever viewpoint. Meanwhile the Via Baltica is a major road development through Poland; unfortunately, the proposed route also runs through several key wildlife sites, including some peatland areas (see IMCG Newsletter 2003/4). At present, DGXI has no legal remit to act, but when the Polish N2K lists come to DGXI in May (or some time after that), it will be possible for them to act provided the route impacts one or more proposed N2K sites. The list put forward by Poland will thus be of great interest to everyone…