The purpose of the consultation was to gather opinions on current EU nature conservation legislation (the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive) and its implementation to date, as part of the ‘fitness check‘ that the European Commission is carrying out under its Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT).
Here’s a short summary of how CEPI thinks the European nature conservation strategy should can improve:
- Combine management and conservation: The voluntary work on SFM (e.g. through PEFC and FSC certification) should be recognized, however, protection measures under certification schemes should not lead to permanent conservation status.
- Focus on the maintenance of valuable habitats in a dynamic model taking into account natural processes
- It should be possible to adapt annexes in case of changed conservation needs
- Owners should be able to request the reversal of a conservation area once this area does no longer serve the initial conservation objective
- Leave the organisational implementation to the Member States
- Take a cooperative approach respecting economic interests of forest owners and operators