Published: 14 Apr 2008
- Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Executive
Director of the European Environment Agency,
warned EU ministers of increasing
demands on Europe's forest resources. She
recommended a management approach taking
into account the wide range of services
provided by forests.
Forests are vital to
policy discussions on biodiversity and will
be one of the key themes in the upcoming
international conference on biodiversity,
namely the 9th Meeting of the Conference
of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention
on Biological Diversity, which will be held
on 19–30 May 2008 in Bonn, Germany.
Ahead of this conference, Professor McGlade
addressed the EU ministers of environment
in Brdo, Slovenia, where she outlined future
challenges facing Europe's forests. 'There
is an increasing demand on forest resources
for biomass production. This contribution
to Europe's energy supply need not necessarily
conflict with biodiversity or ecosystem
conditions. However, we must ensure that
the way we use forest biomass has minimal
negative impact on forest biodiversity',
said Professor McGlade.
Forest areas are increasing
but remain fragmented
Europe's total forest area has increased
over the last decades and around one third
of Europe is now covered by forests. Around
25 % of this total is excluded from wood
harvesting because of its special importance
for biodiversity. The total protected forest
area has also increased considerably over
the last few years.
Despite these increases,
significant areas of Europe's forest remain
fragmented into smaller patches. This fragmentation
puts animal and plant species at risk and
is expected to be aggravated by climate
change. Adapting forests to climate change
requires strengthening connectivity between
forest areas.
What next?
The European Environment
Agency will present an assessment report
of Europe's forests and ecosystem conditions
at COP 9 in Bonn.
In the long run, broader
discussions will also include research on
the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem
services. This upcoming study, known as
the 'Potsdam Initiative' is supported by
G8 and five leading emerging economies:
Brazil, India, China, Mexico and South Africa,
known as 'G8+5'. It will be one of the issues
on the agenda during COP 9.
Become an undercover
agent to defend the environment in a comic
strip
Published: 16 Apr 2008
- Children can now learn about ways to protect
the environment, while chasing eco-villains
on the European Environment Agency's new
'Eco Agents' website, available in 24 languages.
Eco Agents website invites
9- to 14-year-olds to become undercover
'eco agents' in comic strip stories. In
each story, five heroes from the Netherlands,
Finland, Poland, Turkey and Greece are assigned
to a special mission, such as infiltrating
a 'wind farm' in the Netherlands, which
is a cover-up for a natural gas extraction
facility. After creating a personal profile,
each new recruit actually appears in the
comic strips alongside the permanent characters.
Each mission includes games where children
earn points towards a general score.
Two storylines on climate
change and water quality are already online.
They will be followed by stories on sustainable
lifestyle, biodiversity and air quality.
Teacher's corner
Each storyline has a corresponding quiz.
Correct answers provide feedback and further
information on that particular issue, whereas
incorrect answers first provide a hint and
then invite the player to try again. The
quizzes can also be downloaded and used
in classrooms.
Teachers can also access
other educational material as well as a
list of websites in their country where
they can find more detailed information
about environmental issues.
Presenting the website
to future 'eco-agents'
The European Environment Agency will present
the Eco Agents website at 'SciFest 2008',
a science and technology festival for teenagers,
to be held on 16–19 April 2008 in Juensuu,
Finland.
