Prioritaire en symboolsoorten voor soortbescherming in West ...

Abstract
Priority and Flagship Species
for Species Protection Programs in West Flanders
Species are often more appealing to the imagination than do habitats. The former have therefore widely been used as a stepping stone
for conservation projects. However, which species are most useful for this purpose? And which ones are most relevant for nature
conservation and nature development in the province of West Flanders? This report lists the plant and animal species of which the West
Flemish populations are of vital importance to the whole of Flanders. Local or provincial protection schemes for these species have an
important effect on the entire Flemish level.
West Flanders holds a large number of species compared to most other provinces, and this is true for many taxonomic groups. The high
biodiversity is a result of the variation in available habitats: coast, polders, sand region, hills,… However, lots of species appear to be
threatened or restricted to just a few locations. Without further measures, a large number of species may disappear from the province or
even, in some cases, from Flanders in the short and middle term. It is mostly the habitat specialist species that are suffering, while
generalist populations are stable or increasing, resulting in a decline in diversity.
Table 1: Number of species, threatened species and priority species in Flanders and the province of West Flanders for each taxonomic group. Species
numbers are based on information from distribution atlasses. See the respective chapters for references.
Taxonomic group
Number of species
in Flanders
Number of
species in West
Flanders
Number of Red
List species in
West Flanders
(excl. extinct
ones)
% of the number of
Flemish Red List
species
(excl. extinct ones)
Prioritaire en symboolsoorten voor soortbescherming in West-Vlaanderen
Number of
priority species
in West
Flanders
Number of
symbolic species
in West Flanders
Higher plants 1.128 905 142 56 % 48 71
Breeding birds 209 165 36 90 % 24
40 (incl. wintering
birds)
Mammals 68 50 13 68 % 5 8+
Amphibians 17 14 1 17 % 4 2
Reptiles 5 2 - - - 2
Butterflies 50 34 8 36 % 2 10+
Dragonflies 66 41 1 6 % - 7
Grasshoppers 34 25 8 62 % 3 8
Ants 56 31 11 37 % 3 3
Ladybirds 62 42 5 71 % - 3
Fish of brooks and
rivers
79 (40 fresh water,
39 brackish/salt
water)
25 1 33 % - 5
8