The Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Water of the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, and President of the Biodiversity Foundation, Josep Puxeu, pointed out at the closing of the European Conference on Biodiversity the importance of having the year 2020 as a goal to stop the loss of biodiversity in Europe.

At the closing of the European Biodiversity Conference, the President of the Biodiversity Foundation highlighted the post-2010 biodiversity goal and vision: The role of protected areas and ecological networks in Europe, the objective of setting the goal for 2020 to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe and the deterioration of ecosystem services, and restore them in a meaningful way. Josep Puxeu pointed out that biodiversity objectives must be “reasonable and must be able to be met”.

In addition, species and habitat types of special interest for conservation should reach a favourable conservation status by 2020, as highlighted by Josep Puxeu at the closing of the Conference, organised by the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, and which brought together representatives from more than 48 countries for two days. international institutions and organizations.

In this sense, in order to achieve the target in 2020, it is necessary to ensure payment for ecosystem services and that there is an economic valuation of the services provided by biodiversity, to incorporate it into the design and application of the sectoral policies of the European Union, as set out in the priorities approved at the Conference, called Cybele by the Goddess of Mother Earth.

Likewise, Cibeles’ priorities include the need to deepen the integration of biodiversity into agricultural, fisheries, energy, transport and design policies. This new Ecological Infrastructure should allow the maintenance of the evolution processes of species, avoid habitat fragmentation, and facilitate ecological connectivity and adaptation to climate change.

In marine matters, in order to achieve the target of halting the loss of ecological diversity by 2020, it is necessary to preserve the marine environment, complete the marine Natura 2000 Network, and ensure that fishing practices, marine transport and the exploitation of marine natural resources are developed in harmony with the needs of marine biodiversity conservation.

Making the 2020 target a success requires concrete measures to address the problems of deforestation and degradation of forests, soils and water resources, and the introduction of exotic species, according to the experts meeting for two days in Madrid. In this line, they have called for the European Commission to present proposals before the end of this year on the appropriate mechanisms and instruments to achieve them, and for the targets and objectives for biodiversity to be part of the European Union’s 2020 Strategy, which will replace the Gothenburg and Lisbon Strategies.

The European Union should also support the establishment and management of protected areas and ecological networks in third countries and enhance the incorporation of scientific knowledge into political decision-making processes, for which the speakers at the Conference propose the creation of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, that facilitates interactions between the worlds of science and politics on biodiversity issues.

In addition, it is essential to promote the dissemination and communication of the ecological and socio-economic benefits of protected areas and ecological networks, cornerstones in efforts to preserve biodiversity, have highlighted in the agreed priorities.

The document and the presentations made throughout the Conference are available for download by clicking here.