On 16 September, the Council of Ministers approved the Royal Decree of the Strategic Plan for Natural Heritage and Biodiversity 2011-2017, which will be the planning instrument for the national policy for the conservation and sustainable use of natural heritage and biodiversity in Spain.

This instrument, new in Spanish legislation, develops articles 12 and 13 of Law 42/2007 on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity and establishes goals, objectives and actions to promote the conservation, sustainable use and restoration of natural heritage and biodiversity for the period 2011-2017.

The Plan integrates the commitments made by Spain both globally and in the European Union in terms of biodiversity conservation, in coherence with the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted in October 2010 in Nagoya, as well as the European biodiversity strategy published in May 2011. Spain is one of the first countries with a Strategic Plan in line with the CBD Plan, and is thus at the forefront of the world in terms of planning for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

The Plan consists of a diagnosis that reflects the current situation of biodiversity in Spain, its problems and the commitments – both national, community and international – that justify the intervention. Based on the diagnosis, eight medium-term goals and thirty-nine concrete and verifiable objectives have been defined for the six years of the plan’s validity. The achievement of these objectives will be assessed on an ongoing basis through an indicator-based monitoring programme.

This instrument therefore advances in the recognition that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are essential elements for the survival and well-being of human beings and for the socio-economic development of society, highlighting that they are essential to improve the ecological efficiency of the economy and reduce the ecological deficit.