Environmental problems – An overview - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 30

Because only insufficient information is available on the long-term trends of global
climate, temporary warming periods, and other global changes, we must restrict our-
selves and try to load the global environment with as small an amount of emitted energy
and chemicals as possible and cause minimal impact to the ecosystem by human land
use. What we also can do is improve our knowledge, disseminate available informa-
tion, educate people, especially, professionals, help them in taking good decisions and
influence legislation and politicians not to manipulate environmental issues, but to
consider the environment as a priority factor.

6.4 Nature and biodiversity protection
Several regulations (EU Nature, 2013), conventions, and action plans have been estab-
lished in Europe and across the world to protect biodiversity of the ecosystem and
nature.
The European Commission has come up with an action plan aimed at conserving
biodiversity and preventing loss of biodiversity within the EU and internationally,
emphasizing provisioning services, recreational and cultural value of the ecosystem.
The primary objectives of the Action Plan for Biodiversity (2006) concern four
policy areas: biodiversity in the EU, the EU and global biodiversity, biodiversity and
climate change, and the knowledge base and the supporting measures such as financing,
monitoring, evaluation, and review measures. The Action Plan focuses on research
and knowledge base as well as the long-term balance between economic and social
development and nature conservation
Earlier Action Plans, such as the Biodiversity Action Plan for the Conservation of
Natural Resources (2001) deal with the conservation of wild fauna and flora, prevent-
ing biodiversity loss related to the management of water, soil, forests, and wetlands
and conserving biodiversity world-wide.
Action Plans specialized in agriculture and fisheries were established at the same
time [Biodiversity Action Plan for Agriculture (2001) and Biodiversity Action Plan for
Fisheries (2001)] based on the recognition that these two activities are largely impacting
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. To integrate biodiversity into policies and create
capacity to address biodiversity issues in the context of its economic and development
cooperation, the European Commission established the Biodiversity Action Plan for
Economic and Development Co-operation (2001) for the following:

- Intensive production systems such as agriculture, livestock, aquaculture and

forestry, paying attention to their importance as a source of food, the conservation
of genetic diversity, and concerns regarding alien species and modified organisms;

- Production systems involving nondomesticated or noncultivated species such as

natural forests and fishing grounds, wild flora and fauna, focusing on maintaining
a range of ecosystems and habitats in productive landscapes;

- Protected areas, where stronger links are needed between conservation activities

and sustainable development strategies.

The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habi-
tats (1979) and the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit (1992) with the outcome of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992), which was signed by 150 countries