Protected areas

Papers presented at a symposium on the legal problems of the conservation of wetlands, jointly organized the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the Groupe des zones humides of the Société française pour le droit de l’environnement. The meeting, attended by almost 100 participants representing 25 countries, was held in Lyon, France, in September 1987.

Grasslands are an overlooked and poorly protected habitat even though semi-natural and managed grassland covers 10-20% of most central and eastern European countries. As agriculture intensifies, the extent of these already scattered sites and their species richness is declining. This report brings together information on the status, distribution, vulnerability and current conservation of primarily lowland grasslands in eight countries plus the western Republics of the former USSR.