130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

patory approaches to species management are
mechanisms to help us reconnect with wildlife
and create conservation success stories against the
backdrop of biodiversity loss [55] .
Developing the policy framework for wildlife
comeback
Wildlife comeback in Europe, although limited to
only a few species at present, is directly relevant
to national, EU and other multilateral targets for
nature conservation. Under the Strategic Goal
C, signatories to the Convention on Biological
Diversity Aichi Targets are required to improve the
status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems,
species and genetic diversity [56] . Any wildlife
comeback directly contributes towards this target.
Similarly, there are other international biodiversity
agreements relevant to a European context [e.g.
the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)] to
which signatories have to adhere (see below). At the
EU level, schemes to restore wildlife populations
apply to two of the six targets of the EU biodiversity
strategy for 2020 [57] . The first relevant target is to
fully implement the Birds and Habitats Directive
by improving the conservation status of species
and habitats listed, which the recovery of depleted
populations contributes towards. Under the Birds
Directive, for example, action plans are in place
for around 50 species which have been identified
as priorities for funding, such as the Egyptian
vulture (Neophron percnopterus) [58] . Likewise, the
second relevant target aims to restore at least 15%
of degraded ecosystems, and could be supported
by restoring abandoned lands.
Since 1961, there has been a 28% decline in the
human population in rural Europe, a trend that is
particularly pronounced in Eastern Europe (41%
decline in rural population since 1961; [59] ). Socioeconomic
and demographic factors are principal
drivers of rural depopulation [1] , although agricultural
intensification under the European Union’s
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has contributed
to a trend of abandoning less productive and
economically less viable areas in favour of intensive
farming of highly productive areas; this trend is
set to continue with the ascension of eastern and
central European countries to the Union [60] . Land
abandonment of this kind has been linked to
population recovery in some species (e.g. Roe deer,
Eurasian elk, Iberian ibex, Wild boar in this report),
but has also been implicated in the observed
53% decline in farmland birds across Europe
since 1980 [61] (Figure 2), a reduction attributed to
agricultural intensification and loss of open and
heterogeneous habitat [62, 63] . At a regional level,
bird species in the northwestern Mediterranean
Basin responded differently to land abandonment
Population index (%)
100
75
50
50
0
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
depending on habitat preference: communities
were found to be altered, with positive results for
woodland species overall and declines observed
for farmland species [64] . Similarly, the long-term
conservation goals for the Apennine yellow bellied
toad (Bombina variegata pachypus) could be
compromised in the face of land abandonment in
northern Italy, due to the importance of agricultural
activities in providing suitable habitat for the
species [65] .
The comeback of the European otter (Lutra
lutra) in the Czech Republic provides an example
of how land use change can provide conservation
benefits: the species benefited from the restoration
of freshwater habitats after a reduction in intensive
agricultural area [66] . Land abandonment therefore
has the potential to provide opportunity for
wildlife comeback but it is not always a universal
positive outcome for all species. Specific responses
to habitat change will depend on the nature
and extent of that change and on the ability of
individual species to adapt to different conditions,
so it has been suggested that for the purposes of
policy regarding agricultural land abandonment, a
tailored approach should be taken to apply zoning
or at least to ensure that the context of each area is
taken into consideration within plans for regional
reforms [67] .
Worldwide, traditional agricultural landscapes
have high cultural value, and this is reflected in the
29 traditional agricultural landscapes currently
listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites [1, 68] . Because
of their cultural and biodiversity importance (e.g.
for farmland species [69] , conservation of traditional
and low-intensity farming systems, known as High
Nature Value (HNV) farmland, has been actively
promoted [70] . Roughly 15–25 % of the European
countryside qualifies as HNV farmland [71] , while 63
of the 231 habitat types in the EU Habitats Directive
depend on agricultural practices [72] . Much of
2004
2008
2011
Figure 2.
The Farmland Bird
Index, developed by
the Pan-European
Common Bird
Monitoring
Scheme (PECBMS)
(EBCC/RSPB/
BirdLife/Statistics
Netherlands), shows
a continuing decline
in common farmland
birds in Europe.
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