As the International Day for Biodiversity kicks off, citizens and environmental organisations from around Europe are joining the Nature Alert campaign [1].

Since the online action to save European nature from Commission President Juncker’s deregulation agenda [2] was launched nearly two weeks ago, over 122 000 people from many EU member states have joined the campaign. They have answered the European Commission’s public consultation and called on Brussels not to undermine the laws protecting Europe’s most precious birds and wildlife.

Leonardo Mazza, Biodiversity Policy Officer at the EEB said:

“It is great to see so many national organisations working hard to engage citizens across Europe in this campaign. International Biodiversity Day is the perfect opportunity for all nature lovers to engage with this action and answer the public consultation. Commission President Juncker has called on his team to listen to citizens. This is his opportunity to show he has his ears open.”

Ends

Notes to editor:

[1] The internet action called Nature Alert allows citizens across the 28 EU countries to participate in the European Commission public consultation and, by doing so, save the laws that protect nature in Europe. The International NGOs BirdLife, the European Environmental Bureau, Friends of the Earth Europe and WWF are organising and promoting the e-action.

The e-action marks the beginning of a pan-European, multi-annual campaign to stop any threats to current nature protection efforts and to obtain better implementation and enforcement of Europe’s nature laws.  More than 90 environmental organisations have joined  forces to mobilise members, supporters and the general public to tell the Commission that they want Europe’s nature laws to be maintained, better implemented and enforced. The public consultation is open until 24 July.

Europe’s nature laws (the Birds and Habitats Directives) are recognised as some of the strongest in the world to protect animals, plant and habitats from extinction. Thanks to these laws, Europe now has the world’s biggest network of protected areas, Natura 2000, covering about one-fifth of Europe’s land and 4 per cent of its marine sites.

The European Commission has decided to carry out an in-depth evaluation of both laws to determine whether they are effective in protecting our natural world. This process is happening in a context that is clearly hostile to nature conservation, as illustrated by President’s Juncker rhetoric on ‘business-friendly’ laws and cutting ‘green tape’.

[2] EEB’s PR on European Commission’s Better Regulation package.

[3] List of videos by organisations from around Europe on the Nature Alert campaign

Suggested tweets to spread the word of the campaign today:

Wondering what to do for nature on International Biodiversity Day? Click here & save EU’s nature laws http://bit.ly/1Kja7c1 #IDB2015

Happy International Biodiversity Day. Wondering what to do for nature?  Join the Nature Alert campaign here http://bit.ly/1Kja7c1 #IDB2015

For further information contact:

Leonardo Mazza, Biodiversity Policy Officer, 0032 (0) 2 289 10 93, leonardo.mazza@eeb.org