Nature Conservation

To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Habitats Directive and of the LIFE Programme, the European Commission together with the European Parliament, the Council Presidency and the Committee of the Regions declared 21st May as “European Natura 2000 Day”. Natura 2000 is producing good results but implementation clearly needs improvement at Member State level in particular with greater stakeholder involvement and dialogue. FACE will be supporting a better implementation of Natura 2000 as outlined in the EU Action Plan for Nature, People...

19 May, 2017 /

FACE was present at a conference on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP is a major policy in Europe and currently uses the largest portion of the European Commission’s (EC) budget (almost 40%). It has resulted in major improvements in food production since its conception in 1957, however, there is recognition that the future CAP to be more sustainable. For FACE, the decline in farmland biodiversity, especially (huntable) small game species, is a very important subject....

12 May, 2017 /

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) accounts for nearly 40% of the EU budget and is a crucial support mechanism for agriculture and the rural environment in Europe. Many hunters will be aware that European agriculture has had a significant impact on farmland biodiversity, including many small game species. In 2020, the CAP will be revised; FACE and its members will be working hard to improve the next CAP and its consequences for hunting and conservation. In FACE’s view, the next CAP...

10 May, 2017 /

This year, the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) is celebrating World Migratory Bird Day as a means to promote the recently established Waterbird Fund. FACE is calling on those who sustainably use and conserve waterbirds to contribute to this important Fund to ensure that we better understand the status of our migratory waterbird populations. The FACE Biodiversity Manifesto demonstrates that hunters are already actively involved in managing and creating wetlands that are important for migratory birds in Europe. However,...

10 May, 2017 /

Last week, the European Commission published its “Action Plan for Nature, People and the Economy”, which was the result of the “Fitness Check” of the EU nature directives. FACE, with input from its Members, has been involved in the entire Fitness Check consultation process including the development of this EU Action Plan. The Plan includes important actions for European hunters to be delivered by 2019, including: Updating guidance on species protection rules under the Habitats Directive; Updating the “Key concepts document on the...

04 May, 2017 /

On 29 April, ANCPG, RSHCB, and FACE highlighted the necessity for stronger collaboration between farmers and hunters at a conference on farmland small game management. All stakeholders agreed on the importance of strong partnerships to conserve small game species threatened by the intensification of farming. Related Member: BELGIUM: Royal Saint-Hubert Club de Belgique (RSHCB)...

02 May, 2017 /

Examples from Europe where hunting positively influences the conservation of threatened species. In 2017, FACE gathered nine projects in five countries in Europe where hunters are involved in the conservation of threatened species. Hunting, as an activity, creates a powerful incentive for the promotion of biodiversity conservation. Species that are threatened by changing land uses and farming practices, like the Grey Partridge and the Red Grouse, can benefit from actions of hunters. It is in all our interest to conserve biodiversity;...

25 April, 2017 /

On Tuesday 7th March, FACE, the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU, organised the conference “The future of the Nature Directives: Where are we going?”, hosted by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz and MEP Renata Briano at the European Parliament in Brussels. Recently, the European Commission (EC) published the Fitness Check evaluation of the EU Nature Directives and concluded that they remain highly relevant and fit for purpose. However, in order to fully achieve the objectives of the Nature...

08 March, 2017 /

FACE, Copa & Cogeca, CEPF, ELO welcome new EU Court of Auditors report showing huge potential of Natura 2000 in protecting biodiversity but warn uptake is poor as funds difficult to access. FACE, Copa & Cogeca, CEPF, ELO welcomed in Brussels today a new EU Court of Auditors report which shows the huge potential of Natura 2000 in protecting biodiversity but warn that uptake is poor as the network is not being managed properly and funds are difficult to access. The report...

24 February, 2017 /

The conference, organized by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the Hunting Intergroup and MEP Renata Briano, Vice-President, in cooperation with FACE, will take place on 7th March 2017 at the European Parliament in Brussels. On the 7 December 2016, the European Commissioner for Environment, Karmenu Vella, confirmed the next steps of the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives: the European Commission will develop an implementation Action Plan to improve implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This Action Plan...

15 February, 2017 /

Every January, many people from all over Europe go out in cold weather to count waterbirds for the International Waterbird Census (IWC), the monitoring scheme, which provides clarity on waterbird populations and their trends. In Italy, there is good cooperation in place in many areas between professional ornithologists, bird watchers and hunters to ensure good coverage of wetlands, particularly the biggest ones, such as Venice Lagoon and Po delta. Under the umbrella of ISPRA, The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research,...

02 February, 2017 /

The Holsteiner Lebensraum Project aims to restore the ecological connectivity of the Kreis Segeberg Region (North Germany). Species and habitats became fragmented mainly due to the building of two highways. One of the main objectives was to develop the Holsteiner Lebensraum Korridore in conjunction with a range of partners, including the Kreis Segeberg eV hunters. Several actions are set up at different scales and for different habitats, including: The construction of a green bridge over the highway to reconnect the forest. Deer and...

27 January, 2017 /

This wetland restoration project takes place on a hunter’s 30 ha landholding in Flanders (Belgium). The site forms part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under Natura 2000 and the objective is it to restore an Annex I habitat; an alluvial forest with Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). Between 2012 and 2013, with the financial support of Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (Agency for Nature and Forest) and Natura 2000 subsidies combined with hunters’ assistance in the field,...

14 December, 2016 /

On the 7 December 2016, EU Commissioners confirmed the next steps of the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Thus far, the extensive consultation process has pointed to the need for better implementation, increased funding for nature conservation, and fully addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss in the wider countryside. On the basis of today’s debate, the European Commission will develop an implementation Action Plan to improve implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This Action Plan will likely contain...

07 December, 2016 /

The document “Hunting & Conservation of Wild Birds in the EU” is a guidance document for European and national policy makers on the implementation and interpretation of the Birds Directive in relation to hunting. This “White Paper” was developed by the European Association for Regional Hunting Traditions (AECT) in close cooperation with FACE who adopted it on 28 September 2016. It assesses of the impact of the Birds Directive on sustainable bird hunting practices in Europe, and in particular on the...

05 October, 2016 /

Wetlands provide countless benefits or “ecosystem services”, which range from supplying freshwater, food and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation. Throughout Europe, wetlands continue to decline in area and quantity despite numerous policy and legal targets to halt their decline[1]. The main causes of wetland loss include land use change to forestry and agriculture, urbanisation, invasive alien species and climate change. Hunting and wetland conservation Of the 208 projects currently listed in the FACE Biodiversity Manifesto, 90 are active...

05 August, 2016 /

Spanish and Portuguese hunters participated in the successful project LIFE+IBERLINCE, which has tripled the number of Iberian lynx in only one decade from less than 100 individuals in 2002 to more than 400 in 2015. LIFE+Iberlince has been running from 2011, and will finish in 2017; there have also been three other previous Life projects since 2002. The current project, “Recovery of the historical distribution of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Spain and Portugal”, was set up by the...

13 July, 2016 /

The European Commission has made public its expert study: Evaluation Study to Support the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The study, which was completed in March 2016, was only made public yesterday due to an official access to document request made by the WWF The report was prepared by a group of experts led by Milieu Ltd. on the request of the European Commission in the framework of its “Fitness Check” of the Birds and Habitats Directives. In...

09 July, 2016 /

The development of the revised Strategic Plan for the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) for the period 2019 – 2027 was formally launched at the meeting of the AEWA Strategic Plan Working Group in Bonn on the 28-30 June 2016. FACE was represented by Dr. David Scallan. The meeting brought together a wide range of AEWA stakeholders, including designated representatives from Contracting Parties, members of both the Standing and Technical Committees as well as a number of key AEWA partner organizations. Aside...

07 July, 2016 /

Hunters team up with public bodies responsible for state forestry services in Poland in order to preserve the country’s capercaillie population. In the provinces of Dolnoslaskie in Poland’s South-East, and Podlaskie in the North-West, populations of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), the largest member of the Grouse family, are in decline. At the beginning of the 20th century there were more than 3000 capercaillies living in Poland, however recent population estimates put the current figure at 350-450 individuals. Shrinking populations of...

04 May, 2016 /

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