Birds and Habitats Directives Task Force

Fernando Barrio/SEO In Spain, the 'dehesas' (open parklands of broadleaved evergreen forest) are important for the conservation of globally threatened or near-threatened species such as Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti and Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus Zoom In

What are the Birds and Habitats Directives?

The European Union Birds Directive and Habitats Directive are very important pieces of legislation for protecting European bird species and their habitats.

Why was the Task Force set up?

The BirdLife European Birds and Habitats Directives Task Force was formed to monitor and promote the implementation of these key Directives so that they are effective in protecting conservation of bird species, sites and habitats within Europe.

What does the Task Force do?

The group works as a liaison between the BirdLife European Partnership and the relevant bodies of the European Commission to:

•   Provide relevant and reliable data, information and input to European policy makers regarding the implementation of the Directives.
•   To promote their effective implementation across Europe on a European and national level.

For more information on the activities of the Task Force Contact:
BirdLife European Division Office
bleco@birdlife.org

BirdLife Birds and Habitat Directives Task Force Zoom In

Task Force positions and briefings

BirdLife Partners from the EU have recently adopted a position paper on wind farms and birds, where they clearly support the development of renewable energy, but also highlight the need to choose the locations for wind farms carefully. For example, no wind farms should be located in Important Bird Areas or EU protected Natura 2000 sites.

• IBAs of European importance: An explanation of the EU criteria applied in IBA 2000 (Word doc, 52 KB)
• BirdLife position statement on wind farms and birds (Word doc, 75 KB)
• BirdLife's position statement on Birds and Power Lines (PDF, 361 KB)

Related Links

• Wildlife laws in the EU (English, 409 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (Finnish, 407 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (French, 411 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (German, 486 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (Greek, 356 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (Italian, 410 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (Spanish, 363 kb pdf)
• Wildlife laws in the EU (Swedish, 412 kb pdf)