Increasing global demand for food, water, energy and space are threatening unique species and irreplaceable natural ecosystems in the Danube-Carpathian region and the rest of Europe. This is why strong nature protection laws are needed now more than ever to ensure that our precious natural world recovers and is well protected.

Thanks to legal protection through the EU Habitat and Birds Directives that form the basis of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas, some species that had almost disappeared are coming back , and other threatened species are recovering. A signal that we are on the right track.

And wild animals and habitats won’t be the only ones to enjoy the benefits. Nature laws that are well implemented and enforced will build a healthy environment, benefitting human health and wellbeing as well as economic prosperity. This is why in 2015 WWF Danube-Carpathian Region mobilized NGOs and citizens to send a strong signal to the European Commission (EC) that European nature conservation legislation must remain strong and in place in spite of calls for deregulation.

This action marks the beginning of a pan-European, multi-annual campaign to stop any threats to current nature protection efforts and to obtain better implementation and enforcement of Europe’s nature laws.

In the summer of 2015 more than 520,000 people signed the documents of European Commission consultation process. urging for keeping the EU nature protection directives intact.

Europe’s Habitats and Birds Directives are recognised as some of the strongest in the world to protect animals, plant and habitats from extinction and Natura 2000 is the biggest network of protected areas in the world. It covers e.g. 34% of Bulgaria, 29% of Slovakia, 21% of Hungary and 18% of Romania.