Europe must improve protection of remaining “wilderness” areas
“Europe should be proud of the last remaining areas of ‘wilderness’ and protect them efficiently. It is a crucial part of our common heritage and identity”, stated Czech Environment Minister Ladislav Miko at the Conference on Wilderness and Large Natural Habitat Areas, which was held on 27 – 28 May in Prague.
With the participation of a prominent guest, former Czech President Václav Havel, the Czech Presidency initiated, in cooperation with the European Commission, a discussion on the need to protect wilderness and natural habitat areas – areas largely untouched by humans but also areas that were significantly altered by human activity in the past and now are left to their natural development. The very small extent of these areas – less than one percent of Europe’s area – is alarming. A number of such areas are in immediate danger.
Pavan Sukhdev, foremost economist of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and expert biodiversity economic assessment, stated at the conference: “We are the prisoners of a system that prefers man-generated capital to natural capital and private goods to the public ones – which is a major problem. Natural areas are a kind of insurance for our future and that is why we need to invest in them.” He also stated that if we evaluate all eco-system services provided globally by the protected natural habitat areas, we will reach a sum of 4 500 to 5 200 billion US dollars per year. However, we only spend 6 billion US dollars to protect them.
“The conference has inspired us to rethink our relationship with nature. The forthcoming Swedish Presidency of the EU Council will dedicate special attention to the relations between biodiversity, climate change and the quality of life of the inhabitants of Europe”, said Åsa Norrman, director of the Natural Resources Division of the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.
In his speech on social and ethical aspects of nature conservation, Václav Havel noted that these days we are losing our ties to the “natural world” and in the artificial environment that we have created around us, natural boundaries in the landscape are becoming blurred. “One cannot tell where the city ends and the village begins, where industrial zones stop and fields and forests begin. We have lost the ability to understand the natural course of the world and keep destroying nature for future generations”, said Václav Havel.
In the past 40 years, around 25% of animal and plant species disappeared from our planet, mainly due to the activities of humans, who destroy natural habitats, overuse natural resources, and pollute the environment, largely adding to climate change and the spread of invasive species. In the EU itself, 60% of the most precious natural habitat types are seriously endangered. “It appears that we won’t be able to meet the commitment of EU Member States to stop the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Hence Europe must increase its efforts in a substantial way, if it wishes at least to come near this goal. Preserving Europe’s natural habitat areas is an important part of these efforts”, said Ladislav Miko.
The Conference on Wilderness and Large Natural Habitat Areas was attended by more than 240 participants from 40 countries, representing state institutions, nature conservation bodies and non-governmental organisations, academics, representatives of farmers, foresters and entrepreneurs.
- More information on the conference can be found at: www.wildeurope.org.
Contact:
- Jakub Kašpar, Spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
- tel.: +420 267 122 040, mobile: +420 724 175 927; e-mail: jakub.kaspar@mzp.cz
- Zoltan Kun, conference coordinator, Wilde Europe, +36703801522 (English)
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:20
