 Luigi Boccaccio
An example of grassland destruction in Southern Italy
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Is Europe’s green belt losing its grip?
23-10-2008
BirdLife International wrote today to the EU Commissioner for Agriculture Fischer Boel to express its concern over the destruction of permanent grasslands in the EU. Permanent grasslands represent invaluable habitats for biodiversity and important carbon stocks. BirdLife asked the Commissioner to clarify the extent of the problem and to provide information on the measures taken by the European Commission to address it.
Permanent grasslands, especially extensive semi-natural grasslands, represent some of Europe’s most valuable biodiversity habitats and are protected under the EU Nature Directives. Most of them are threatened by either intensification of agricultural activities (being turned into arable land) or by abandonment. While this trend has existed for decades, partly as a consequence of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), new pressures have arisen in the last couple of years. Widespread evidence from across the EU is suggesting that high cereal prices and public incentives for biofuels lead to more permanent grasslands being ploughed up by farmers who extend cereals and other crops production.
"...we believe the EU Commission should be taking swift and decisive action to enforce existing rules and propose new ones if the current legislation is demonstrated to be failing' —Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Regional Director of BirdLife International, European Division
A second reason for concern, beside the impact on biodiversity, is that many grasslands represent an important carbon stock. Ploughing up permanent grasslands leads to a swift and potentially enormous release of carbon from the soil. This can significantly contribute to climate change.
Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Regional Director of BirdLife International at the European Division, said: “Given the potentially catastrophic, and partially irreversible damage that may arise from a new wave of grassland conversion, triggered by high cereal prices and biofuel production, we believe the EU Commission should be taking swift and decisive action to enforce existing rules and propose new ones if the current legislation is demonstrated to be failing.”
In the light of this, BirdLife has offered to cooperate with the EU Commission in finding solutions to these serious problems. Specifically, BirdLife has asked the EU Commissioner for Agriculture to provide the following information:
• The extent of grassland loss since 2004 - and in particular in the past two years in all EU Member States
• An assessment of grassland loss that affects natural and semi-natural areas of importance as carbon stocks or as EU protected biodiversity habitats
• The actions taken by the European Commission to ensure that all Member States are correctly enforcing the obligation to protect permanent pasture under Cross Compliance
• The actions taken by the European Commission to assess whether such obligation is indeed being successful in preserving biodiversity and carbon rich grasslands
• In case the system was demonstrated to be ineffective, the possibilities which the European Commission sees to improve the rules
Read the Letter BirdLife has sent to the EU Commissioner for Agriculture by clicking here. If you want to be up-to-date with BirdLife International European stories, register to our electronic Newsletter “BirdLife Europe e-news” by clicking here. Or to hear about news from the global BirdLife network, please click here.
Credits: BirdLife in Europe