Europe

The newsletter, which is published twice a year, provides up to date information on activities, events and initiatives on the EU’s biodiversity policy and the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives.

Saproxylic beetles are insects that depend on dead and decaying wood for at least part of their lifecycle, and play important ecological roles in European habitats. The current IUCN European Red List provides an assessment for 693 species of saproxylic beetles. In 2008, following a two-year project, a total of 436 species were assessed. In 2017, an additional 257 species were assessed.

Vultures are a characteristic, distinctive and spectacular component of the biodiversity of the environments they inhabit. They also provide critically important ecosystem services by cleaning up carcasses and other organic waste in the environment. The IUCN Red List status of African-Eurasian vultures has seen drastic changes for the worse in recent years.

The newsletter started in 1994 as a result of the third EFNCP biennial conference in Pau in July 1992. Its aim is to complement the conferences through the exchange of views, ideas and information.

The final product is an impressive and voluminous book with more than 900 pages of maps of distribution for 495 European bird species, accompanying text and information on the population size estimates for key countries where it is present. The area covered includes all of Europe, including Madeira, the Azores, Iceland, Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Transcaucasia) although not Turkey or Cyprus. 

For the first time a comprehensive overview of geo-conservation in Europe has been presented in a book. Geoheritage in Europe and its Conservation includes specific contributions from 37 countries focussing on legislation and geoconservation practices. The only record of the history of our planet lies in the rocks beneath our feet: rocks and the landscape are the memory of the Earth.

This book records the results of a four-year study of the effects of air pollutants, ineffective silviculture practices and other factors such as restrictive legislation and neglect of forests in 24 European countries.