A report urging the EU to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020 and to restore ecosystems has been backed by Conservative MEPs.
The report is the European Parliament’s response to the Commission’s mid-term review of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy, which was published in October.
The report expresses serious concern about the continuing loss of biodiversity in Europe and calls for better implementation and enforcement of existing legislation.
MEPs are also calling for better integration of biodiversity in other policy areas, such as the agriculture and forestry sectors.
ECR Environment Spokesman, Julie Girling, said: “Europe’s biodiversity is one of its greatest assets, but regrettably this is increasingly under threat.
“A quarter of wild species throughout Europe are at a very real risk of extinction, and therefore much more ambitious enforcement efforts of existing legislation are needed”
However the South West and Gibraltar MEP noted: “The UK is already doing much better than the EU average on a number of sub-targets.
“For example 49% of UK species and 34% of habitats are in a favourable or recovering condition, compared with 27% and 20% for the EU as a whole.
“However there is much more to do to avoid the loss of some of our most endangered species and habitats.”
