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EC21C
European Conservation for the 21st Century
European biodiversity is threatened by simultaneous and drastic alterations in climate and how we use our land. Animal and plant species, which are driven out of their historic ranges due to changing conditions, may survive if they can find suitable habitats elsewhere. But the European ecosystems we are accustomed to - the systems of species and environments that are characteristically “European” - will be pulled apart as individual species go their separate ways. Society relies on biodiversity for vital services such as crop pollination, carbon storage, and groundwater management. But biodiversity change often results in a loss of vital ecosystem services.
In order to protect biodiversity, and hence our own well-being, we must predict when and where the shifts in the distributions of animal and plant species will disrupt European ecosystems and use these predictions as a basis to evaluate methods for avoiding or mitigating this disruption. One such method currently adopted by European Commission is the concept of Green Infrastructure (GI), a strategically planned network of high quality green spaces and other environmental features such as hedgerows, fish passes or biodiversity-friendly fields.