The EU biodiversity strategy stipulates that ten percent of the area in the European Union will be strictly protected by 2030. So far, however, this is only the case for 3.37 percent, as a recent study reveals. This is also primarily an area that cannot be used by humans anyway. But the potential for larger protected areas is there, according to the researchers. They are therefore warning the EU to significantly increase its pace in nature conservation.
In May 2020, the EU adopted its biodiversity strategy for 2030. This ambitious plan provides for greater protection of Europe's biodiversity and ecosystems. To this end, around 30 percent of the EU should become protected areas by 2030, ten percent of which should even be under strict protection. This means that it must not be disturbed by human activities such as mining or deforestation. But how likely is it that we will achieve this self-imposed goal?
Wilderness Search in Europe
Researchers led by Roberto Cazzolla Gatti from the University of Bologna have now examined how close we are to the ten percent target. To do this, the team used various databases to determine what percentage of the EU area has been strictly protected so far. Strictly protected areas were nature reserves, wilderness areas and national parks in the sense of the statutes of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). All industrial, extractive and destructive activities affecting species and habitats must be avoided in these areas.
On the basis of these criteria, Cazzolla Gatti and his colleagues were finally able to find out what percentage of the area of each individual EU member state is strictly protected and what landscape types the areas are divided into - for example alpine slopes or sea areas. In addition to the current situation, the team also determined how much potential for strictly protected areas the individual states theoretically still have. To do this, they added up all areas with low population density to find areas with as little human impact as possible.
EU still far from the ten percent target
The result: There are currently 9,382 strictly protected areas in the EU with a total area of 139,153.38 square kilometers. This corresponds to around 3.37 percent of the EU area and is therefore still a long way from the targeted ten percent by 2030, as the researchers report. The previously protected area is also very unequally distributed among the EU member states. While in Luxembourg 36.3 percent of the country is under strict protection, in Germany it is just 0.6 percent. Only Denmark with 0.2 percent and Belgium with 0.1 percent fare even worse.
In addition, the strictly protected areas are primarily located where no conflicts with human land use are to be expected anyway, for example at high altitudes or on steep slopes. In Germany, too, protection is concentrated primarily on the mountains. Five percent of all alpine areas in this country are strictly protected, but only 0.6 percent of the lowlands and 0.3 percent of the sea areas. Cazzolla Gatti and his colleagues explain that since there is hardly any human intervention in the steep and high-altitude areas, they actually don't need any formal protection. The researchers therefore suggest placing the entire range of European landscape types under protection instead.
There is enough space for this, because the analyzes have shown that theoretically 19 percent of the area in the EU countries would be suitable for strictly protected areas. While Luxembourg has almost exhausted its potential, there is still room for improvement in other European countries. In Germany, for example, according to the researchers, 1.4 percent of the area could be considered strictly protected areas instead of the previous 0.6 percent. Sweden could even increase from 10.1 percent to 57 percent. Cazzolla Gatti and his team warn that this potential should not be left untapped in order not to miss the ten percent target.
Source: University of Bologna; Specialist article: Biodiversity and Conservation, doi: 10.1007/s10531-023-02644-5