Natura 2000 Fitness Check Timeframe and Questionnaire

March 10, 20159 years ago Max A.E. Rossberg 4257 Views 0 Comments 1 min read

The EU Birds and Habitats Directives are the centerpiece of EU environmental legislation, they form the basis of the Natura 2000 network. Nature conservation obviously infringes upon land use interests, which have pressured national governments and the Commission for a review of the directives.

Natura 2000 Fitness Check Timeframe

February 2014: publication of the mandate for the Fitness Check on the Habitats and Birds Directives
End October 2014: launch of a contract to aid the Commission in the gathering and assessment of relevant information and evidence for the Fitness Check by a consortium, led by MILIEU Legal and Policy Consultant in partnership with the Institute of European Environment Policy (IEEP), ICF International and ECOSYSTEMS Ltd.
From January 2015: consultation on the draft list of key documents that are relevant to the Fitness Check.
January 2015: start of a structured evidence gathering consultation with all Member States and key stakeholder groups
April 2015: launch of a 12 week public internet consultation.
April 2015 publication of the ‘State of Nature in the EU’ report, based on Member States conservation status assessments for the Birds and Habitats Directives
June 2015: Green Week 2015, in Brussels, will focus on nature and biodiversity related issues and will give opportunities for discussion on topics related to the Fitness Check.
Late September 2015: a dedicated conference will be held on the Fitness Check in Brussels, where draft results of the evaluation will be shared and discussed with Member States and key stakeholder groups.
Early 2016: publication of Commission report on the results of the Fitness Check.

Evidence Gathering Questionnaire

We urge you to take part in the Natura 2000 Fitness Check to make sure that Europe´s nature including the last great places of Wilderness will be effectively protected for future generations. Please fill out theEvidence Gathering Questionnaire; and:

submit the contribution through any EU-level representative bodies consulted as part of the evidence-gathering phase which can be accessed here;
submit your contribution through the national focal points (relevant Ministries);
submit published documents with examples of case studies that can be taken into account for the analysis of the questions of the Evidence Gathering Questionnaire;
submit an individual (unsolicited) contribution;
contribute through the public consultation.

Let´s make sure our opinion is heard.