By Peggy Corlin - 29th May 2006
Brussels new biodiversity action plan fails to address the situation of the EU’s outermost regions, according to a senior MEP.
The European commission is continuing to ignore the environmental situation of some of the EU’s outmost regions warned French green MEP Marie Anne Isler-Beguin during a Green week fringe event on Tuesday.
“I am extremely disappointed by the commission’s communication as I have been asking for a long time that the EU’s most isolated areas be included in Europe’s strategy on biodiversity” Isler-Beguin told Eupolitix.
“Jewels such as the coral reef in New Caledonia or the Amazon rain forest which is being threatened by gold mine projects in French Guiana, are left aside”.
Although essential for biodiversity conservation, the four French outermost regions suffer from little protection from the EU’s birds and habitats directives and are not included in Natura 2000 – Europe’s network of protected sites.
But the French MEP points out that “those jewels of biodiversity” need the protection of EU instruments to fence off destructive projects.
“Exploitation of mines in New Caledonia has catastrophic environmental and social consequences. How can you ask some African countries to preserve elephants when we are unable to act in our own territory?” said Isler-Beguin.
Brussels last week unveiled a new communication and action plan on halting biodiversity loss designed to shift member state action up a gear.
“Though needed, the commission’s initiative will not do much for biodiversity” argues the Green MEP.
“On these issues, the commission carries little weight in member states, despite growing support from citizens".
According to Isler-Beguin, biodiversity is the poor relation of EU environmental policy, while climate change is much more widely understood.
“But biodiversity does not only entail prestigious species, it is about all living species, human beings also run the risk of one day being on the danger list” warned the MEP.
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