Copa and Cogeca underlined the benefits of nature conservation at a panel debate in Brussels Green Week today, and outlined key issues to be dealt with in the assessment of the EU habitats and birds legislation, the Fitness Check
Speaking at the event “Is EU nature legislation fit for the purpose, Copa-Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “We recognize the value of nature protection and welcome the Fitness Check of the directives – offering a closer look into the achievements of the package. We will contribute in the upcoming consultation on this. We have had some successes but the approach taken – concentration on protected habitats and species – has led to undervaluing common biodiversity and managed agricultural and forestry land. We welcome Commissioner Vella’s statement on the Natura 2000 network as being one of Europe’s greatest success stories and must not forget that it is the farmers and forest owners that have the fundamental role of making the policy work.
He continued “But we feel that the main question should be how to strike the right balance between ensuring sustainability and nature conservation and being economically viable. Environmental protection cannot become an obstacle to economic development in rural areas . We suggest some improvements to the Fitness Check. We want to cut red tape and reward good environmental performance. We ask for more flexibility when it comes to implementation of natura 2000 as well as encouragement of voluntary schemes. International trade agreements must also respect our established environmental standards and the impact of Natura 2000 sites’ on production permits must be reasonable. Operators cannot bear the additional costs imposed by this alone, for example livestock attacks caused by wolves”
At Copa-Cogeca Green Week Stand, a LIFE project “Smart Nature” from Denmark was displayed aimed at ensuring care of the unique natural habitats found in Natura 2000 areas in a cost-effective way. http://www.smart-natura.dk/English/Welcome.aspx. Another LIFE+ project “Return to Rural Wetlands” from Finland focused on establishing, restoring and managing wetlands in Finland in the agriculture and forestry areas http://kosteikko.fi/en/ Also present at the stand was a voluntary initiative from Finland, the forest biodiversity programme “METSO” that aims at halting the loss of forest species and habitats in order to create favourable trends in forest biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2025. METSO is a functioning example of payment for ecosystem service (PES) -type of activity with conservation agreements covering 33 000 hectares of private forest so far (see also: http://www.metsonpolku.fi/en/index.php). A tool to help identification of non-vertebrates naturally present on arable land developed by the French Chamber of Agriculture was presented (see also: http://unebetedansmonchamp.fr/jai-capture-une-bete/). Another example from Ireland is the Burren Life Programme which has been praised for its hybrid approach to farming and conservation and has had major environmental and socio-economic benefits at the same time as creating jobs (see https://www.burrenlife.com ) The ongoing successful agri-environmental scheme “Campaign for the Farmed Environment – supporting Pollinators” from Lowland areas of England promoting pollinator friendly practices that can also be used on Ecological Focus Areas was presented (see also: https://www.cla.org.uk/rural-policy-advice/environmental-management/nature-conservation/campaign-farmed-environment-cfe
