European topic centre - university of malaga

Meet our team members

Dania Abdul Malak

ETC-UMA DIRECTOR

daniaabdulmalak@uma.es

+34 951 952 995

Dania Abdul Malak is a senior environmental researcher and Director of the European Topic Centre at the University of Malaga (ETC-UMA). She has over 15 years’ experience in environmental assessment and management. Her research focuses on setting transferable guidelines to apply ecosystem-based management to nature conservation and biodiversity protection at regional scales, including the Mediterranean and Europe. Her work supports the evidence behind the implementation of different Global, European and Mediterranean Directives such as the EU MSFD, the EU MSP, the EU Habitat Directive, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Coastal and Marine Environment in the Mediterranean, as well as the Ramsar and the Carpathian Conventions.

Dania supports the European Environment Agency (EEA) by developing integrated ecosystem assessment frameworks to evaluate the functional capacity of ecosystems to provide ecosystem services. Furthermore, she coordinates several regional initiatives and participates in numerous international research projects related to her field of expertise. More recently, Dania is supporting the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) in implementing sustainable Development Strategies in Western Asian countries.

She has written several scientific papers and has co-authored many international and regional technical reports and books, namely Adapting to Climate Change- an assessment of Vulnerability and risks to Human Security in the Western Mediterranean basin (Abdul Malak et al., 2017); the European forest ecosystems report (EEA, 2016); European ecosystem assessment – concept, data, and implementation (EEA, 2015), Monitoring Post-fire EVI regeneration in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula using GIS and Remote Sensing in International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research (2016) among others. More on publications are available in the ETC-UMA´s publication section.

Related projects

Blue Connect

Strict protection, restoration and co-management of marine protected areas to ...

Wetland4Change

Wetlands-based solutions for climate change adaptation, risk prevention and mitigation ...

StrategyMedFor

Strategy for the Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests ...

ETC-DI

European Topic Centre on Data Integration and Digitalisation ...

BioConnect

Ensuring effective management and governance in Sites of Ecological Importance ...

RESTORE4Cs

Modelling RESTORation of wEtlands for Carbon pathways, Climate Change mitigation ...

PANACEA – MBPC

Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community ...

ETC-ULS

European Topic Centre on Urban, Land and Soil systems ...

MSP-LSI

Maritime spatial planning and land-sea interactions ...

GEOSPATIAL DATA FOR THE SDG

Developing and Utilising Geospatial Workflows to Monitor UN Sustainable Development ...

RESOURCES

Journal Articles

Marín, A. I.; Abdul-Malak, D.; Bastrup-Birk, A.; Chirici, G.; Barbati, A.; Kleeschulte, S.

Mapping forest condition in Europe: Methodological developments in support to forest biodiversity assessments Journal Article

In: Ecological Indicators, vol. 128, 2021.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Forest

@article{Marín2021b,

title = {Mapping forest condition in Europe: Methodological developments in support to forest biodiversity assessments},

author = {A. I. Marín and D. Abdul-Malak and A. Bastrup-Birk and G. Chirici and A. Barbati and S. Kleeschulte},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107839},

doi = {10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107839},

year = {2021},

date = {2021-05-29},

journal = {Ecological Indicators},

volume = {128},

abstract = {Forest condition, biodiversity, and ecosystem services are strongly interlinked. The biodiversity levels depend to a large extent on the integrity, health, and vitality of forests at the same time as losses of forest biodiversity lead to decreased forest productivity and sustainability. Under this conceptual framework, this study presents a methodology for mapping forest condition at European scale supporting the attainment of the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Target 5 “the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced” and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as the EU forest strategy since the sustainable forest management is oriented to support the provision of forest services and to enhance the condition of biodiversity forests’ host.

The work presents the developments of an operational indicator at European scale. This spatially explicit information on forest condition can be the baseline map with a 1 km resolution to monitor the state and changes of condition by exposition to pressures and threats. This condition indicator considers structural, functional, and compositional aspects of forest with relevance for health and vitality of species and habitats hosted by forest ecosystems.

The methodology implemented used harmonized, published and open datasets. It provided confident results for the assessment of the condition within hemiboreal, temperate and alpine forests, showing the Carpathian, Dinaric Alps and Alps, among others, as hotspots with pre-dominantly good condition. The results were validated with data derived from the reporting for the EU Habitat Directive and explicit dataset on known primary forests in Europe. However, this method underestimated the forest condition in the Mediterranean and Boreal forest types due to data gaps, regional specific characteristics, and design limitations.

This study illustrates an operational and transferable approach for addressing the assessment of ecosystem forest condition at European scale being considered as a support tool for European countries when mapping and assessing their national territory, as potential common approach to map forest ecosystems that allows for consistent aggregation and comparisons across scales.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Forest},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Forest condition, biodiversity, and ecosystem services are strongly interlinked. The biodiversity levels depend to a large extent on the integrity, health, and vitality of forests at the same time as losses of forest biodiversity lead to decreased forest productivity and sustainability. Under this conceptual framework, this study presents a methodology for mapping forest condition at European scale supporting the attainment of the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Target 5 “the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced” and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as the EU forest strategy since the sustainable forest management is oriented to support the provision of forest services and to enhance the condition of biodiversity forests’ host.

The work presents the developments of an operational indicator at European scale. This spatially explicit information on forest condition can be the baseline map with a 1 km resolution to monitor the state and changes of condition by exposition to pressures and threats. This condition indicator considers structural, functional, and compositional aspects of forest with relevance for health and vitality of species and habitats hosted by forest ecosystems.

The methodology implemented used harmonized, published and open datasets. It provided confident results for the assessment of the condition within hemiboreal, temperate and alpine forests, showing the Carpathian, Dinaric Alps and Alps, among others, as hotspots with pre-dominantly good condition. The results were validated with data derived from the reporting for the EU Habitat Directive and explicit dataset on known primary forests in Europe. However, this method underestimated the forest condition in the Mediterranean and Boreal forest types due to data gaps, regional specific characteristics, and design limitations.

This study illustrates an operational and transferable approach for addressing the assessment of ecosystem forest condition at European scale being considered as a support tool for European countries when mapping and assessing their national territory, as potential common approach to map forest ecosystems that allows for consistent aggregation and comparisons across scales.

Rodríguez-Rodríguez, D.; Sánchez-Espinosa, A.; Abdul-Malak, D.

Potential contribution of OECMs to international area-based conservation targets in a biodiversity rich country, Spain Journal Article

In: Journal for Nature Conservation, vol. 62, 2021.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Protected areas

@article{Rodríguez-Rodríguez2021b,

title = {Potential contribution of OECMs to international area-based conservation targets in a biodiversity rich country, Spain},

author = {D. Rodríguez-Rodríguez and A. Sánchez-Espinosa and D. Abdul-Malak},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126019},

doi = {10.1016/j.jnc.2021.126019},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-05-15},

journal = {Journal for Nature Conservation},

volume = {62},

abstract = {Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are new conservation tools intended to complement protected areas (PAs) at achieving effective biodiversity conservation and meeting international area-based targets. However, OECMs have been rarely considered in practical terms until recently. Here, we performed a rapid evaluation on the degree of fulfilment of current area-based international biodiversity targets, post-2020 foreseeable oncoming targets, and ecological targets by considering: 1) Protection coverage; 2) Inclusiveness of important areas for biodiversity; 3) Protection management; 4) Connectivity; and 5) Habitat representation, on land and at sea in Spain, a Euro-Mediterranean, biodiversity rich country. We conducted the evaluation under two scenarios: 1) Scenario 1 considers designated PAs; and 2) Scenario 2, that also includes potential OECMs. In order to generate Scenario 2, thirteen legal categories were assessed against international guidance on OECMs as a first step to screen their likelihood of providing OECMs in Spain. Our findings show that some potentially satisfactory OECM categories such as Public Utility Forests, River Reserves or Geoparks meet the OECM criteria to a large degree and deserve further study. Our results also highlight that Spain is currently well above most foreseeable post-2020 biodiversity targets and even close to some ecological targets using just PAs, except for marine protected area (MPA) management and MPA offshore coverage. Adding OECMs would noticeably improve the country’s figures yet without reaching many exigent ecological targets. OECMs can become a useful, cost-effective biodiversity conservation tool that contributes to international targets under new, more ambitious area-based conservation requirements in Spain and elsewhere. Nevertheless, for this to happen, suitable biodiversity management and monitoring schemes must be ensured.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Marine protected areas, Protected areas},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Bevilacqua, S.; Katsanevakis, S.; Micheli, F.; Sala, E.; Rilov, G.; Sarà, G.; Abdul-Malak, D.; Abdulla, A.; Gerovasileiou, V.; Gissi, E.; Mazaris, A. D.; Pipitone, C.; Sini, M.; Stelzenmüller, V.; Terlizzi, A.; Todorova, V.; Fraschetti, S.

The Status of Coastal Benthic Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea: Evidence From Ecological Indicators Journal Article

In: Frontiers in Marine Science, 2020.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Mediterranean sea

@article{Bevilacqua2020,

title = {The Status of Coastal Benthic Ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea: Evidence From Ecological Indicators},

author = {S. Bevilacqua and S. Katsanevakis and F. Micheli and E. Sala and G. Rilov and G. Sarà and D. Abdul-Malak and A. Abdulla and V. Gerovasileiou and E. Gissi and A. D. Mazaris and C. Pipitone and M. Sini and V. Stelzenmüller and A. Terlizzi and V. Todorova and S. Fraschetti},

url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.00475},

doi = {10.3389/fmars.2020.00475},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-06-19},

journal = {Frontiers in Marine Science},

abstract = {The Mediterranean Sea is subject to multiple human pressures increasingly threatening its unique biodiversity. Spatially explicit information on the ecological status of marine ecosystems is therefore key to an effective maritime spatial planning and management, and to help the achievement of environmental targets. Here, we summarized scientific data on the ecological status of a selection of marine ecosystems based on a set of ecological indicators in more than 700 sites of the Mediterranean Sea. For Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds, rocky intertidal fringe, and coastal soft bottoms, more than 70% of investigated sites exhibited good to high ecological conditions. In contrast, about two-thirds of sites for subtidal rocky reefs were classified to be in moderate to bad conditions, stressing the need for prioritizing conservation initiatives on these productive and diverse environments. Very little quantitative information was available for the southern Mediterranean Sea, thus monitoring programs and assessments in this area are essential for a representative assessment of the health of marine coastal ecosystems in the whole basin. This overview represents a first step to implement a baseline that, through georeferenced data on ecological status, could help identifying information gaps, directing future research priorities, and supporting improvements to spatial models of expected cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems.},

keywords = {Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Environmental conservation, Mediterranean sea},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Proceedings

Marín, A. I.; Abdul-Malak, D.

An Indicator Of Forest Fire Intensity Applied To European Forest Ecosystems Proceedings

VI Reunión Internacional Fuegored, Malaga, 19-21 Noviembre, 2015.

Links | BibTeX | Tags: Ecosystem, Forest, Forest fire

Technical Reports

Maes, J.; Erhard, M.; Conde, S.; Rodriguez-Vallecillo, S.; Barredo-Cano, J. I.; Paracchini, M.; Abdul-Malak, D.; Trombetti, M.; Vigiak, O.; Zulian, G.; Addamo, A.; Grizzetti, B.; Somma, F.; Hagyo, A.; Vogt, P.; Polce, C.; Jones, A.; Carré, A.; Hauser, R.

EU ecosystem assessment - Summary for policymakers Technical Report

Joint Research Center (JRC) 2021, ISSN: 1831-9424.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Forest, Land and soil, Pressures, Protected areas, Wetlands

@techreport{Maes2021,

title = {EU ecosystem assessment - Summary for policymakers},

author = {J. Maes and M. Erhard and S. Conde and S. Rodriguez-Vallecillo and J.I. Barredo-Cano and M. Paracchini and D. Abdul-Malak and M. Trombetti and O. Vigiak and G. Zulian and A. Addamo and B. Grizzetti and F. Somma and A. Hagyo and P. Vogt and C. Polce and A. Jones and A. Carré and R. Hauser

editor = {Publications Office of the European Union},

url = {https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC123783},

doi = {10.2760/190829},

issn = {1831-9424},

year = {2021},

date = {2021-06-01},

institution = {Joint Research Center (JRC)},

abstract = {Europe’s ecosystems, on which we depend for food, timber, clean air, clean water, climate regulation and recreation, suffer from unrelenting pressures caused by intensive land or sea use, climate change, pollution, overexploitation and invasive alien species. Ensuring that ecosystems achieve or maintain a healthy state or a good condition is thus a key requirement to secure the sustainability of human activities and human well-being. This guiding principle applies for all ecosystems including marine and freshwater ecosystems, natural and semi-natural areas such as wetlands or heathlands but also managed ecosystems such as forests, farmlands and urban green spaces. Knowledge about ecosystem condition, the factors that improve or decline that condition, and the impacts on ecosystem services, with the benefits they deliver to people, is key to effective management, decision-making and policy design. Such an understanding helps target actions for conservation or restoration and more broadly sustainable use. This ecosystem assessment extends and complements the knowledge we have about the state and trends of ecosystems reported under the EU environmental legislation. The conservation of habitats and species as well as the environmental ambitions on freshwater and marine ecosystems have a well-defined thematic and geographical scope. This assessment goes beyond covering the entire terrestrial and marine territory of the EU and in many cases provides more spatially explicit information. Ecosystems inside and outside protected areas such as coastal and inland wetlands and forests contribute to the wellbeing of people through ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are often heavily impacted and bringing these systems back in a good condition is a key objective for a more sustainable planet. But also human dominated ecosystems such as farmlands and urban green spaces are important providers of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services and can host remarkable levels of biodiversity that are at the basis of ecosystem services. These ecosystems should not be ignored when considering solutions to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Consequently, this assessment brings together for the first time EU wide and commonly agreed data sets that can be used to assess the state and trends of ecosystems and their services as well as the pressures and their trends they are exposed to. This is particularly important to understand where and how much ecosystems are degraded and threatened so as to guide priority and cost-effective restoration efforts.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Environmental conservation, Forest, Land and soil, Pressures, Protected areas, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

Europe’s ecosystems, on which we depend for food, timber, clean air, clean water, climate regulation and recreation, suffer from unrelenting pressures caused by intensive land or sea use, climate change, pollution, overexploitation and invasive alien species. Ensuring that ecosystems achieve or maintain a healthy state or a good condition is thus a key requirement to secure the sustainability of human activities and human well-being. This guiding principle applies for all ecosystems including marine and freshwater ecosystems, natural and semi-natural areas such as wetlands or heathlands but also managed ecosystems such as forests, farmlands and urban green spaces. Knowledge about ecosystem condition, the factors that improve or decline that condition, and the impacts on ecosystem services, with the benefits they deliver to people, is key to effective management, decision-making and policy design. Such an understanding helps target actions for conservation or restoration and more broadly sustainable use. This ecosystem assessment extends and complements the knowledge we have about the state and trends of ecosystems reported under the EU environmental legislation. The conservation of habitats and species as well as the environmental ambitions on freshwater and marine ecosystems have a well-defined thematic and geographical scope. This assessment goes beyond covering the entire terrestrial and marine territory of the EU and in many cases provides more spatially explicit information. Ecosystems inside and outside protected areas such as coastal and inland wetlands and forests contribute to the wellbeing of people through ecosystem services. Despite their importance, they are often heavily impacted and bringing these systems back in a good condition is a key objective for a more sustainable planet. But also human dominated ecosystems such as farmlands and urban green spaces are important providers of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services and can host remarkable levels of biodiversity that are at the basis of ecosystem services. These ecosystems should not be ignored when considering solutions to bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Consequently, this assessment brings together for the first time EU wide and commonly agreed data sets that can be used to assess the state and trends of ecosystems and their services as well as the pressures and their trends they are exposed to. This is particularly important to understand where and how much ecosystems are degraded and threatened so as to guide priority and cost-effective restoration efforts.

Maes, J.; Teller, A.; Erhard, M.; Condé, S.; Vallecillo, S.; Barredo, J. I.; Paracchini, M. L.; Abdul-Malak, D.; Trombetti, M.; Vigiak, O.; Zulian, G.; Addamo, A. M.; Grizzetti, B.; Somma, F.; Hagyo, A.; Vogt, P.; Polce, C.; Jones, A.; Marin, A. I.; Ivits, E.; Mauri, A.; Rega, C.; Czúcz, B.; Ceccherini, G.; Pisoni, E.; Ceglar, A.; de Palma, P.; Cerrani, I.; Meroni, M.; Caudullo, G.; Lugato, E.; Vogt, J. V.; Spinoni, J.; Cammalleri, C.; Bastrup-Birk, A.; Miguel, J. San; San-Román, S.; Kristensen, P.; Christiansen, T.; Zal, N.; de Roo, A.; Cardoso, A. C.; Pistocchi, A.; del Barrio Alvarellos, I.; Tsiamis, K.; Gervasini, E.; Deriu, I.; la Notte, A.; Viñas, R. Abad; Vizzarri, M.; Camia, A.; Robert, N.; Kakoulaki, G.; Bendito, E. Garcia; Panagos, P.; Ballabio, C.; Scarpa, S.; Montanarella, L.; Orgiazzi, A.; Ugalde, O. Fernandez; Santos-Martín, F.

Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: An EU ecosystem assessment Technical Report

Publications Office of the European Union 2020, ISBN: 978-92-76-17833-0.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Forest, Wetlands

@techreport{Maes2020,

title = {Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: An EU ecosystem assessment},

author = {J. Maes and A. Teller and M. Erhard and S. Condé and S. Vallecillo and J.I. Barredo and M.L. Paracchini and D. Abdul-Malak and M. Trombetti and O. Vigiak and G. Zulian and A.M. Addamo and B. Grizzetti and F. Somma and A. Hagyo and P. Vogt and C. Polce and A. Jones and A. I. Marin and E. Ivits and A. Mauri and C. Rega and B. Czúcz and G. Ceccherini and E. Pisoni and A. Ceglar and P. de Palma and I. Cerrani and M. Meroni and G. Caudullo and E. Lugato and J.V. Vogt and J. Spinoni and C. Cammalleri and A. Bastrup-Birk and J. San Miguel and S. San-Román and P. Kristensen and T. Christiansen and N. Zal and A. de Roo and A.C. Cardoso and A. Pistocchi and I. del Barrio Alvarellos and K. Tsiamis and E. Gervasini and I. Deriu and A. la Notte and R. Abad Viñas and M. Vizzarri and A. Camia and N. Robert and G. Kakoulaki and E. Garcia Bendito and P. Panagos and C. Ballabio and S. Scarpa and L. Montanarella and A. Orgiazzi and O. Fernandez Ugalde and F. Santos-Martín},

url = {http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC120383},

doi = {10.2760/757183},

isbn = {978-92-76-17833-0},

year = {2020},

date = {2020-10-01},

urldate = {2020-10-01},

institution = {Publications Office of the European Union},

abstract = {This report presents an ecosystem assessment covering the total land area of the EU as well as the EU marine regions. The assessment is carried out by Joint Research Centre, European Environment Agency, DG Environment, and the European Topic Centres on Biological Diversity and on Urban, Land and Soil Systems. This report constitutes a knowledge base which can support the evaluation of the 2020 biodiversity targets. It also provides a data foundation for future assessments and policy developments, in particular with respect to the ecosystem restoration agenda for the next decade (2020-2030). The report presents an analysis of the pressures and condition of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems using a single, comparable methodology based on European data on trends of pressures and condition relative to the policy baseline 2010. The following main conclusions are drawn: - Pressures on ecosystems exhibit different trends. - Land take, atmospheric emissions of air pollutants and critical loads of nitrogen are decreasing but the absolute values of all these pressures remain too high. - Impacts from climate change on ecosystems are increasing. - Invasive alien species of union concern are observed in all ecosystems, but their impact is particularly high in urban ecosystems and grasslands. - Pressures from overfishing activities and marine pollution are still high. - In the long term, air and freshwater quality is improving. - In forests and agroecosystems, which represent over 80% of the EU territory, there are improvements in structural condition indicators (biomass, deadwood, area under organic farming) relative to the baseline year 2010 but some key bio-indicators such as tree-crown defoliation continue to increase. This indicates that ecosystem condition is not improving. - Species-related indicators show no progress or further declines, particularly in agroecosystems. The analysis of trends in ecosystem services concluded that the current potential of ecosystems to deliver timber, protection against floods, crop pollination, and nature-based recreation is equal to or lower than the baseline value for 2010. At the same time, the demand for these services has significantly increased. A lowered potential in combination with a higher demand risks to further decrease the condition of ecosystems and their contribution to human well-being. Despite the wide coverage of environmental legislation in the EU, there are still large gaps in the legal protection of ecosystems. On land, 76% of the area of terrestrial ecosystems, mainly forests, agroecosystems and urban ecosystems, are excluded from a legal designation under the Bird and Habitat Directives. Freshwater and marine ecosystems are subject to specific protection measures under the Water Framework and Marine Strategy Framework Directives. The condition of ecosystems that are under legal designation is unfavourable. More efforts are needed to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and to put ecosystems on a path to recovery. The progress that is made in certain areas such as pollution reduction, increasing air and water quality, increasing share of organic farming, the expansion of forests, and the efforts to maintain marine fish stocks at sustainable levels show that a persistent implementation of policies can be effective. These successes should encourage us to act now and to put forward an ambitious plan for the restoration of Europe’s ecosystems.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Ecosystem services, Forest, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {techreport}

}

This report presents an ecosystem assessment covering the total land area of the EU as well as the EU marine regions. The assessment is carried out by Joint Research Centre, European Environment Agency, DG Environment, and the European Topic Centres on Biological Diversity and on Urban, Land and Soil Systems. This report constitutes a knowledge base which can support the evaluation of the 2020 biodiversity targets. It also provides a data foundation for future assessments and policy developments, in particular with respect to the ecosystem restoration agenda for the next decade (2020-2030). The report presents an analysis of the pressures and condition of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems using a single, comparable methodology based on European data on trends of pressures and condition relative to the policy baseline 2010. The following main conclusions are drawn: - Pressures on ecosystems exhibit different trends. - Land take, atmospheric emissions of air pollutants and critical loads of nitrogen are decreasing but the absolute values of all these pressures remain too high. - Impacts from climate change on ecosystems are increasing. - Invasive alien species of union concern are observed in all ecosystems, but their impact is particularly high in urban ecosystems and grasslands. - Pressures from overfishing activities and marine pollution are still high. - In the long term, air and freshwater quality is improving. - In forests and agroecosystems, which represent over 80% of the EU territory, there are improvements in structural condition indicators (biomass, deadwood, area under organic farming) relative to the baseline year 2010 but some key bio-indicators such as tree-crown defoliation continue to increase. This indicates that ecosystem condition is not improving. - Species-related indicators show no progress or further declines, particularly in agroecosystems. The analysis of trends in ecosystem services concluded that the current potential of ecosystems to deliver timber, protection against floods, crop pollination, and nature-based recreation is equal to or lower than the baseline value for 2010. At the same time, the demand for these services has significantly increased. A lowered potential in combination with a higher demand risks to further decrease the condition of ecosystems and their contribution to human well-being. Despite the wide coverage of environmental legislation in the EU, there are still large gaps in the legal protection of ecosystems. On land, 76% of the area of terrestrial ecosystems, mainly forests, agroecosystems and urban ecosystems, are excluded from a legal designation under the Bird and Habitat Directives. Freshwater and marine ecosystems are subject to specific protection measures under the Water Framework and Marine Strategy Framework Directives. The condition of ecosystems that are under legal designation is unfavourable. More efforts are needed to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and to put ecosystems on a path to recovery. The progress that is made in certain areas such as pollution reduction, increasing air and water quality, increasing share of organic farming, the expansion of forests, and the efforts to maintain marine fish stocks at sustainable levels show that a persistent implementation of policies can be effective. These successes should encourage us to act now and to put forward an ambitious plan for the restoration of Europe’s ecosystems.

Abdul-Malak, D.; Schröder, C.; Guitart, C.; Sánchez-Espinosa, A.; Fitoka, E.; Hatziiordanou, L.; Mino, E.; Flink, S.; Silver, E.; Strauch, A.; Ling, M.; Brown, C.; Simonson, W.; Scott, E.; Plasmeijer, A.; Thulin, S.; Philipson, P.; Weise, K.; Höfer, R.; Franke, J.; Guelmami, A.

Enhanced wetland monitoring, assessment and indicators to support European and global environmental policy Technical Report

2019.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Conservation and management, Ecosystem, Geotechnology, SWOS, Wetlands