Bern Convention
Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats
The Bern Convention was set up to conserve wild flora and fauna as well as protecting their habitats. Created in 1979 and ratified in 1982, it is one of the oldest agreements for the protection of nature and the only regional Convention of its kind, seeking to foster European cooperation in this field.
The Parties under the convention recognise the intrinsic value of nature, which needs to be preserved and passed to future generations.
In short, they:
- seek to ensure the conservation of nature in their countries, paying particular attention to planning and development policies and pollution control.
- take account of the potential impact on natural heritage by other policies.
- promote education and information of the public, ensuring the need to conserve species is understood and acted upon.
- develop an extensive number of species action plans, codes of conducts, and guidelines, at their own initiative or in co-operation with other organisations.
- created the Emerald Network, an ecological network made up of Areas of Special Conservation Interest.
Emerald Network
Setting up the Emerald Network at national level is considered one of the main tools for the Contracting Parties to comply with their obligations under the Bern Convention. Before being officially adopted as an Emerald site, the area proposed is thoroughly assessed at bio-geographical level and once agreed the sites are regularly monitored. The site needs to contribute to the long-term survival of the species and habitats of the Bern Convention.
- The Network is to be set up in each Contracting Party or observer state to the Convention. It thus involves all the European Union states, non-Community states and a number of African states.
- The European Union, as such, is also a Contracting Party to the Bern Convention. In order to fulfil its obligations arising from the Convention, particularly in respect of habitat protection, it produced the Habitats Directive in 1992, and subsequently set up the Natura 2000 network.
The Natura 2000 sites are therefore considered as the contribution from the EU Member States to the Emerald Network.
The European Diploma for Protected Areas
The European Diploma for Protected Areas is an international award granted since 1965 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It recognises natural and semi-natural areas and landscapes of exceptional European importance for the preservation of biological, geological and landscape diversity which are managed in an exemplary way.
The European Diploma for Protected Areas rewards the exceptional European significance and importance for the conservation of biological diversity, the conservation of remarkable natural phenomena or the conservation of landscape diversity of protected areas in Europe.
More information on the Bern Convention can be found on the Council of Europe’s dedicated webpage.
EUROPARC has an international NGO observer status under the terms of the Bern Convention and attends the Standing Committee and Group of Experts meetings.