"Despite the efforts and the substantial means deployed at the community level, we are not achieving the objectives that we have set ourselves in terms of the fight against the erosion of biodiversity", declared Bérangère Abba, at the end of the organized conference, under the French presidency of the European Union, on Natura 2000 areas.

The Natura 2000 network was established by the European directive of 1992 on fauna and flora and supplemented in 2009 by the directive on birds.

It brings together a set of natural, terrestrial and marine sites, interconnected by ecological corridors, with the aim of preserving threatened or characteristic species and environments at European level, while taking human activities into account.

The network covers nearly 27,000 sites in the European Union, including 1,756 in mainland France (the network does not cover Drom-Com), representing 13% of the surface of France, and 36% of the maritime surface, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

At the end of two days of exchanges which brought together experts and ministers in the European Parliament, Bérangère Abba drew up "the observation that we had to accelerate, be more ambitious on these mechanisms for the preservation of biodiversity at European level, with regard to our national experiences and the challenges at work".

At the conclusion of the conference, the 27 member countries adopted a declaration of intent, called the "Strasbourg Declaration", which distinguishes three "key principles": the strengthening of existing European legislation, the reduction of "human pressures on nature ", and support for "practices compatible with the preservation of biodiversity".

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Natura 2000 network, several NGOs deplored a "real race to designate new protected areas, to the detriment of the implementation of appropriate management measures".

Boats crisscross the Scandola nature reserve, in Ota, in Corse-du-Sud, classified Natura 2000, on August 19, 2019 PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA AFP / Archives

“Only 4% of marine protected areas today have strong protection, against a target of 10% which was to be reached in 2022,” said Elodie Martinie-Cousty, member of France Nature Environnement.

The other classified areas "are very poorly protected and suffer from the consequences of overfishing and destructive fishing techniques", she lamented.

© 2022 AFP