Bonn/Brussels, 29 May 2008 - At the ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of the Natura 2000 network. “We need to build on our previous efforts to implement Natura 2000, to achieve our ambitious European target to stop the decline of biodiversity by 2010”, she said in a speech at CBD COP9. Other high-ranking representatives such as Ahmed Djoghlaf, the Executive Secretary of the CBD, the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and the Ministers of Environment of Slovenia and Germany underlined the Chancellor Merkel’s statement and stressed the unprecedented scale of Natura 2000.

The Natura 2000 network is one of the greatest achievements of EU environmental policy. It has more than 26,000 protected areas and is Europe’s main contribution to the CBD’s efforts to halt global loss of biodiversity.

Although not fully implemented yet, Natura 2000 has already helped to slow down or even reverse the decline of certain bird species. It also preserves Europe’s most characteristic landscapes, stabilises ecosystems and in times of climate change provides natural “buffer” areas for floods and droughts. Human well-being and economic development depend on a healthy environment and therefore the Natura 2000 network represents a valuable contribution for that purpose.