Our work supports the EU's objective of halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services by 2020. This includes assessing the costs and socio-economic benefits of conserving biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, and developing evidence-based polices that help implement and finance EU biodiversity conservation measures.
IEEP has extensive experience of biodiversity-related policy analysis in agricultural, freshwater and marine ecosystems and has pioneered measures to tackle invasive alien species and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
We primarily work on policy analysis and development projects for the European Commission, but also contribute to the biodiversity conservation work of national governments, NGOs and other international governmental organisations.
The EU has a relatively well-established biodiversity conservation policy framework, now formalised in the 2010 EU Biodiversity Strategy, at the heart of which are the Habitats Directive and Birds Directive, which have created the Natura 2000 network – the largest network of protected areas in the world. These Directives include legislative measures that require Member States to conserve and restore EU threatened habitats and species, both within Natura 2000 sites but also where necessary in the wider environment. The Biodiversity Strategy also includes targets that aim to restore ecosystems and their services, support the biodiversity conservation measures in agricultural, forest and marine ecosystems, address alien invasive species and reduce the EU’s external impacts on global biodiversity.
Despite this impressive framework ecosystems continue to be degraded and biodiversity is still being lost. This is due to slow, incomplete or inappropriate implementation, including weak enforcement, a lack of funding, and some important policy gaps.
A fundamental problem continues to be the undervaluation of biodiversity and its limited capture in economic systems. Therefore a key area of our work is demonstrating the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services to clearly show that biodiversity is worthy of protection, for its own sake and for its contribution to human well-being. This understanding is the basis for the development of policies that aim to support the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, for example through better regulations, cost-effective public funding (such as agri-environment schemes and other EU funds) and innovative market-based instruments (such as payments for ecosystem services and biodiversity offsets).
Highlights
This is the sixth edition of IEEP's insert into the IUCN's Regional Office for Europe quarterly Newsletter. Brussels in Brief offers readers an informative and illuminating insight into the EU, its institutions ...
The workshop, held in Aberystwyth on 9 February 2005, provided a timely opportunity to discuss the implications of implementing the habitats and birds Directives for the inshore fishing sector, especially ...
This is the fourth edition of IEEP's insert into the IUCN's Regional Office for Europe quarterly Newsletter. Brussels in Brief offers readers an informative and illuminating insight into the EU, its institutions ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced for the "Implementation of the NATURA 2000 in the Czech Republic" project, which is financed through the EU PHARE programme. IEEP led the work package related to giving an overview ...
This report was produced by the European Commission in 2004 as part of the celebrations marking 25 years of the Birds Directive. The report was based on previous work carried out by IEEP reporting on the ...
This is the third edition of IEEP's insert into the IUCN's Regional Office for Europe quarterly Newsletter. Brussels in Brief offers readers an informative and illuminating insight into the EU, its institutions ...
This is the second edition of IEEP's insert into the IUCN's Regional Office for Europe quarterly Newsletter. Brussels in Brief offers readers an informative and illuminating insight into the EU, its institutions ...
Joint report combining a study on agriculture and biodiversity and a study to quantify and delineate high nature value farmland areas.
An introduction to IEEP's MEACAP project, 'The Impact of Environmental Agreements on the Common Agricultural Policy'. Visit MEACAP's project minisite
This is the first edition of IEEP's insert into the IUCN's Regional Office for Europe quarterly Newsletter. Brussels in Brief offers readers an informative and illuminating insight into the EU, its institutions ...