Glossary
Biodiversity:
Biodiversity is the biological variety of life on earth. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Biodiversity boosts ecosystems productivity where each species has a very important role to play.
Conservation Measures:
According to Article 6 (1) of the Habitats Directive, Member States are obliged to establish necessary conservation measures for special areas of conservation. The measures taken shall be aimed at reaching the objective of the Directive, which is biodiversity on the territory of the Member States. The measures can involve management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans, and appropriate statutory, administrative or contractual measures which correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity convention entered into force on 29 December 1993 and has three main objectives. First of all, the conservation of biological diversity, secondly, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and thirdly, the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Court of Justice:
The Court of Justice is one of three courts that form the Court of Justice of the European Union, the judicial institution of the European Union (other courts are: the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal). Its primary task is to ensure the uniform interpretation and application of European Union law (in cooperation with the courts and tribunals of the Member States). The Court of Justice interprets European Union law at the request of the national courts and tribunals, ensures that the Member States comply with obligations under the Treaties and reviews the legality of the acts of the institutions of the European Union. By its jurisprudence the Court of Justice established general principles of EU law such as supremacy of EU law, direct effect, the liability of a Member State to individuals for damage caused to them by a breach of Community law by that State etc. The Court was set up in 1952 under the ECSC Treaty and is based in Luxembourg. It consists of one judge per Member State (28 from July 2013 on) and eight advocates-general (in August 2013).
Directive:
A Directive is a legal instrument adopted by the European Union according to a specific procedure. It is binding, as to the result to be achieved, on each Member State to which it is addressed, but leaves to the national authorities the choice of form and methods (Article 288 TFEU). A Directive´s function, harmonisation of law within the EU, can be achieved for example by Directive 2008/95/EC.
Directorate General/Environmental Directorate General:
The Directorate-General for the Environment is one of the more than 40 Directorates-General and services that make up the European Commission. Commonly referred to as DG Environment, the objective of the Directorate-General is to protect, preserve and improve the environment for present and future generations. To achieve this it proposes policies that ensure a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and that preserve the quality of life of EU citizens. The DG makes sure that Member States correctly apply EU environmental law. In doing so it investigates complaints made by citizens and non-governmental organisations and can take legal action if it is deems that EU law has been infringed. In certain cases DG Environment represents the European Union in environmental matters at international meetings such as the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.
EU Biodiversity Strategy:
The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU and help stop global biodiversity loss by 2020. It reflects the commitments taken by the EU in 2010, within the international Convention on Biological Diversity. Its six targets are the enhanced implementation the EU nature legislation, the restoration of ecosystems and the establishment of Green Infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and forestry, sustainable fisheries, the combat against alien invasive species and the contribution to stop the loss of global biodiversity.
European Commission:
Established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, the European Commission is the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and day-to-day running of the EU and has comprised 28 Commissioners since the accession of Croatia on 1 July 2013. Its main function is to propose and implement Community policies adopted by the Council and the Parliament. It acts in the general interest of the Union with complete independence from national governments. As guardian of the Treaties, the Commission oversees the application of Union law under the control of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It executes the budget and manages the programmes. It exercises coordinating, executive and management functions, as laid down in the Treaties. With the exception of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and other cases provided for in the Treaties, it ensures the Union’s external representation. It initiates the Union’s annual and multiannual programming with a view to achieving inter-institutional agreements.
European Environment Action Programme:
Environment Action Programmes provide a general policy framework for the European Union’s environmental policy in which the most important medium and long-term goals of European environmental policy are defined and set out in the form of a basic strategy, if applicable, including concrete action measures. The European Commission began the practice of periodically issuing Community Environmental Action Programmes in the early 1970s. The Treaty of Maastricht which was adopted in 1992 created a contractual basis for the adoption of Environment Action Programmes. When the Treaty of Lisbon was adopted, this contractual basis was set forth in Article 192 (3) TFEU. Since then, Environment Action Programmes have been adopted by the European Parliament and the Council at the proposal of the Commission within the framework of the ordinary legislative procedure and have hence been issued as formal legal acts.
European Parliament:
is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and but does not have the ability to formally propose legislation. This institution also controls budgetary actions for the European Union. Members of the European Parliament are elected every five years.
Favourable Conservation Status (FCS):
Reaching the FCS for all habitat types and species listed in Annexes I and II is the general aim of the Habitats Directive. In short, the conservation status respectively for natural habitats and species reaches a favourable level when stability or increase of the natural range is secured on a long-term basis.
Natura 2000:
is an EU-wide ecological network of special areas of conservation being established under the 1992 Habitats Directive with the aim to assure the long-term survival of Europe’s most valuable and threatened species and habitats.
Natura 2000 Barometer:
The Natura 2000 Barometer provides an overview on the Natura 2000 network of sites under the Birds and the Habitats Directives, in terms of information on area and site numbers. The barometer is updated once per year, based on the most recent information officially transmitted by Member States. It is also regularly published in the Natura 2000 Newsletter. The barometer statistics have been produced by the European Environmental Agency in Copenhagen.
Natural Habitat:
A natural habitat is an ecological or environmental area where a specific species lives. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food, shelter, protection and mates for reproduction. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population. A habitat is made up of physical factors of which composition the life of the species depends. It is not necessarily a geographical area, it can be the interior of a stem, a rotten log, a rock or a clump of moss, and for a parasitic organism it is the body of its host.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs):
Group of volunteers, in general individuals or organisations, which is organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. NGOs are usually not affiliated with any government and organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information. Some of the NGOs are organised as for-profit, others as non-profit organisations (which is the vast majority).
Precautionary Principle:
Principle adopted by the UN Conference on the Environment and Development (1992) states that in order to protect the environment, a precautionary approach should be widely applied, meaning that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage to the environment, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
Public interest:
Human health, public safety or overriding beneficial consequences for the environment can constitute imperative reasons of public interest, which may justify the realisation of plans or projects with adverse effects on priority habitats and/or species, according to Article 6 (4) of the Habitats Directive.
Sites of Community Importance (SCI):
As defined in the Habitats Directive, the SCI is a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at a favourable conservation status of a natural habitat type or of a species and may also contribute significantly to the coherence of Natura 2000, and/or contributes significantly to the maintenance of biological diversity within the biogeographic region or regions concerned. It is for the Member States to designate all of these sites as “Special Areas of Conservation”, as required by the Habitats Directive, as soon as possible and within six years at the most. They should give priority to those sites that are most threatened and/or that are of most importance in conservation terms.
Species:
A species is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Due to phenomena as hybridisation, micro species and ring species other attempts to define species include similarity of DNA, morphology, or ecological niche in order to clear inadequacies of the first definition.
Wild fauna:
Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time.