European Commission adopts new action plan to defend biodiversity

The European Commission on Thursday adopted a new action plan to improve the protection of nature and biodiversity in the European Union (EU).

The plan contains 15 actions to be carried out between now and 2019, and focuses on priority areas such as building political ownership and strengthening compliance, and improving the use of EU funding and better communication and outreach.

The aim is to improve the implementation of the nature directives (birds and habitats), which are the cornerstone of the EU's biodiversity policy.

Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types, according to the Commission. It works to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats, listed under the nature directives. Endite