LIFE and Europe’s grasslands: Restoring a forgotten habitat

2008 - 56 pages

Grassland ecosystems hold an important part of Europe’s biodiversity. They offer ideal conditions for a vast diversity of habitats and species, are the source of a wide range of public goods and services, and also act as carbon ‘sinks’. Changes in agricultural practices and land use pressures mean that grasslands are disappearing at an alarming rate. This brochure highlights a selection of LIFE co-funded projects targeting grassland ecosystems within the Natura 2000 network.

LIFE and Europe's wetlands - restoring a vital ecosystem

2007 - 68 pages

Wetland ecosystems hold an important part of Europe's biodiversity. They provide ideal conditions for a vast diversity of habitats and species, and are especially important for birds providing vital nesting and migratory flyway areas. Despite their importance, however, wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate and are among Europe's most threatened ecosystems. This brochure presents a selection of wetland projects that have received LIFE co-funding since 1992. The majority of case studies focus on the restoration and management of wetlands, while a number also target key wetland species.

Conserving Mires in the European Union

October 2010 - 96 pages

From Stockholm's elegant waterfront to Rome's bustling streets, Berlin's modern museums to Lisbon's famous streetcars - one of the most striking features of Europe today is its cultural diversity. The second may be its weather! driving rain in Dublin, scorching hot evenings in Athens…. This combination of different climates and human activities is also responsible for another of Europe's more obscure jewels: its mire habitats. These are particularly well represented considering the size of the continent, but their decline is now a matter of grave concern – 70% of their former mire range has already been lost.

To protect what remains of Europe's natural heritage, the EU is in the process of establishing a European network of protected areas – called NATURA 2000. This will be made up of sites designated under the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, which together form the central pillar of the EU's nature conservation policy. In 1992, a European financial instrument – called LIFE-Nature - was also introduced to help set up NATURA 2000. Over the last seven years some 350 projects were cofinanced to the tune of 283 million euro.