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WWF
La direttiva Europea sugli habitat obbliga gli
stati dell'UE a proporre dei siti di natura incontaminata da proteggere. Secondo
il WWF sarebbero stati esclusi un terzo dei siti degni di protezione. In Italia
il WWF propone suggerisce di aggiungere 205 siti oltre a quelli gia'
proposti.
One in three European wildlife sites
unprotected, warns WWF
15 June, 2000
The wolf is one species in Europe that
needs protection. Photo: WWF-Canon/Roger Leguer
Brussels, Belgium - WWF, the conservation
organization, today warned that almost a third of Europe's important wildlife
sites will not be protected under proposals put forward by European Governments,
and urged the European Commission to protect an extra 2326 sites in European
Union countries.
European Union (EU) nature conservation law, the
Habitats Directive, obliges member states to propose sites for protection to
ensure the survival of Europe's most threatened species and habitats. But,
according to research by WWF, the 15 EU member states are not nominating enough
sites to guarantee the survival of threatened species such as the brown bear,
the lynx, wolf, otter, harbour porpoise and loggerhead turtle.
"European Governments should not be allowed to
exclude almost one in three of Europe's important wildlife sites from protection
under the Habitats Directive" said Sandra Jen, WWF's European Biodiversity
Policy Officer. "It would be a tragedy if species like the brown bear, the
Iberian lynx and the harbour porpoise became extinct in Europe because member
states failed to protect enough sites when they had the chance."
WWF is urging the European Commission and member
states to add the sites proposed by WWF to the official list of sites to be
protected under the Habitats Directive. They include the proposed rowing and
canoeing centre for the 2004 Olympic Games in Schinias, Greece, the Kaiser
Mountains in Austria, the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, the Corridor de Pagares
between Asturias and Castilla Leon in Spain and the Massif de Sesques et de
l'Ossau in the French Pyrenees, an important bear habitat.
Four out of every five important wildlife sites
in Ireland have been excluded from the Government's official list of sites for
protection under the Habitats Directive, two-thirds of the sites in Spain and
over half in the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal. WWF has proposed an
additional 205 sites in Italy, 107 in France, 167 in Sweden, 153 in the UK and
259 in Ireland.
WWF's proposed sites represent only those that
are necessary to save 19 species and 25 habitats - from the more than 600 listed
in the Habitats Directive. The member states and the European Commission have
completed a first series of meetings to choose the sites to be protected, and a
second series is due to start in September - probably to be finalised in
2001.
For further information:
Julian Scola,
Press Officer, WWF European Policy Office, tel +32 2 743 8806, email jscola@wwnet.org