On the occasion of a BirdLife International [1] event celebrating the 30th anniversary of the EU Birds Directive in Brussels last evening, efforts to conserve Europe’s threatened natural heritage received much-needed support from high-level decision makers in Brussels.

“It is self-evident that protecting birds needs effective international cooperation and it was therefore no coincidence that the Wild Birds Directive was the first piece of EU Environmental legislation dedicated to nature conservation.” The Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Stavros Dimas stated at the event.

On behalf of the EU Presidency, Czech Deputy Environment Minister, Mr. František Pelc, congratulated Europeans for 30 years of bird protection. On a video message, African conservationists from Burkina Faso conveyed their gratitude to the EU for protecting African birds during their summer stay in Europe.

Messages in support of the Birds Directive and photos from 36 personalities from 16 EU member states were also displayed during the BirdLife International event. The list of the personalities includes former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Ruud Lubers, Italian MTV presenter Paola Maugeri, British wildlife presenters Chris Pakham and Kate Humble, Lithuanian MEP Aloyzas Sakalas and award winning artist Niki Gravino from Malta among others.

In his statement in support of the Birds Directive Niki Gravino said, “The EU Birds Directive is a great tool which prevents over-exploitation of our natural heritage and ensures that spring migration over Malta is an ordeal of survival not death.”

Scientific studies show that the Birds Directive already helped many birds to recover their populations in Europe [2]. However, more than 40% of long-distance migratory bird species have declined in the last three decades and are continuing to decline.

BirdLife welcomed the strong statements the Commissioner gave in favour of the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Misconceptions and attacks on EU’s nature protection directives from some stakeholders and politicians have to be overcome – they make no sense in a time of environmental and economic crisis, BirdLife concluded.

Photo: Barn Swallows are amongst the spring migrants that can be seen in the Maltese countryside, as they follow a route thousands of kilometers long between their European breeding grounds and African wintering grounds. Photo by Kim Taylor.

Congratulation messages from VIPs from around Europe at:

http://www.birdlife.org/eu/EU_policy/directive_anniversary.html

[1] BirdLife International has supported the EU Birds Directive and its implementation since the very beginning more than 30 years ago. In this context BirdLife is a recognized authority for reference data on sites (Important Bird Area inventories) and species.

www.birdlife.org/eu/EU_policy/Birds_Habitats_Directives/index.html

[2] The fact that the EU nature legislation works, was demonstrated in 2007 by an analysis published in the renowned journal ‘SCIENCE’. This study confirmed that bird species, especially protected by the EU Birds Directive, are better off than others, the Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla and Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti are prominent examples of this success. Paul F. Donald, Fiona J. Sanderson, Ian J. Burfield, Stijn M. Bierman, Richard D. Gregory, Zoltan Waliczky (2007) International Conservation Policy Delivers Benefits for Birds in Europe. SCIENCE, 10 August 2007, Vol. 317, no. 5839, pp. 810-813. BirdLife press release 10/08/2007: http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/08/science_article.html

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