Ecology, Energy, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

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During the conference, Latvian Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards stressed the essential role of biodiversity and ecosystem preservation for the economy and long-term welfare.

The conference participants — representatives of EU Member States, the European Commission (EC), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders — discussed the opportunities for biodiversity preservation, one of the Latvian Presidency`s priroties in the field of environmental protection. 

In April 2015, the determination of the EU to achieve the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy was clearly expressed during the discussions at the informal meeting of Environment Ministers in Riga on biodiversity preservation measures that had already been implemented.

Taking into account the EU's commitment, the conference participants contributed to the evaluation of progress made in implementing the EU Biodiversity Strategy. The State of Nature in the European Union report published by the EC on 19 May 2015 served as the basis for the discussions. The report was prepared by analysing reports submitted by the EU Member States on the conservation status of wild bird species, habitat types and other species. The report concludes that the situation in the area of biodiversity has not improved. For example, under the Habitats Directive[DJ1] , only 16% of habitats assessments and 23% of species assessments are favourable.

During the discussions, representatives from NGOs were critical, but also made valuable suggestions. For example, they proposed that the EU and its Member States take active action to restore ecosystems, species habitats and biotopes to improve the implementation process and achieve the EU Strategy objectives.

Representatives from the EU Member States exchanged views on ecosystems and their assessment, including the contribution of natural capital to economic development. Particularly valuable were good practice examples in the mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, and the creation of innovative financial mechanisms to preserve biodiversity. 

The conference results will be used to prepare the EC's Mid-Term Review of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy that is due to be published in the autumn of 2015.

The two-day conference was organised by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia in collaboration with the European Commission, the Latvian Fund for Nature, the European Environmental Bureau, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the EC LIFE Nature project “Birds in Ādaži”. The Latvian Fund for Nature and the European Environmental Bureau implement the project that enables the active participation of non-governmental organisations in the conference, with support from the Latvian state budget-funded programme "Support for public participation in implementing the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union".