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European countries losing fight against loss of biological diversity - European Wildlife conservation

07/03/2012 23:04

According to the European Wildlife conservation organisation, European countries have not been successful in their long-term fight against the loss of biological diversity. The return of many animal species, mainly large carnivores, is being held back because of three countries: Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

It is those particular countries that form a strict boundary beyond which the key species are not able to advance. Such conclusions were made after comparing these three states with adjacent countries in connection with the occurrence of certain types of endangered species.

For instance, in Hungary there are no bears while their eastern neighbour Romania has a population of 5000-6000 bears. North of Hungary, in Slovakia, there are 800 bears.

In Austria all the bears have become extinct recently, despite the fact that in neighbouring Slovenia there is a stable population of about 400 bears. Similarly, in the Czech Republic there are only 5-10 wolves – and their population is not growing, even though in Slovakia there are about 180 wolves, in Germany about 120 wolves and in Poland 800-900 wolves.

In this respect, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic are the worst countries in Europe. “In these regions, biodiversity, and mainly large carnivores, are getting lost like the ships in the notorious Bermuda Triangle,” points out Dalibor Dostal, the director of conservation organization European Wildlife.

Such dramatic decrease of biodiversity in those three countries is not explained simply as a difference between economically more and less advanced states. For instance, the living standard of the Slovenians is higher than the living standard of the Czechs. Wealthy Germany, the most advanced European economy, shows that the protection of endangered species and wealth are not in contradiction. For example, in the past two years the population of wolves in Germany has doubled.

Nor the climatic conditions could be the reason for the decrease in population of key species. For instance, although Austria is more mountainous than Slovakia, the bears in the Alps have become extinct.

“For centuries, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic used to be a part of one state – the Habsburg Monarchy. It seems that some ties bind them still,” adds Dalibor Dostal. He believes that one of possible causes for extinction of endangered species could be the fact that some countries keep failing their fight against poachers.

Experts say that the poachers are the main reason why bears in Austria have become extinct and why, in the Czech Republic, the populations of wolves and lynxes have not grown in the past two decades. The trouble is that those cases are not efficiently dealt with by the police and a majority of offenders often flee without being punished.

“We want to look for other causes together with local conservation organizations in Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Our aim is to find a common strategy which would erase the black triangle of biodiversity from the map of Europe,” says Dalibor Dostal.

European Wildlife proposes a few provisional precautions that could improve the situation: establishment of non-intervention zones in local national parks, at least in 75 per cent of the national parks´areas, creating functional wildlife-corridors between the national parks and other protected areas, including areas that expand across the border, increasing punishment for poaching and, primarily, establishing a more efficient approach of the police when investigating poaching.

Some improvement of the present state in two out of the three countries could be brought through a project of European Centre of Biodiversity which is being established by European Wildlife conservation organization on the borders of Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany. The project should bring back some extinct species such as European bisons.

The project would not bring benefits only for the area of Central Europe. Improving the situation in these three countries could mean reversing the loss of biodiversity in the whole Europe.

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