important plant areas in central and eastern europe - Plantlife

Section 1
DANA TURONOVA
Human communities and wild plant
habitats have co-existed for thousands of
years but pressures from people are
increasing.
Currently 25% of central and eastern
Europe’s IPAs are threatened by
development.
Introduction
Why do we need IPAs in Europe
Wild plants, fungi and their habitats are fundamental to our lives, the lives of all other
organisms, and the air, soil and water around us. Europe has already lost an astonishing
number of species and habitats, from the very rare to the seemingly common. We
continue to lose many plant species in Europe every year, although we still understand
very little about the long-term implications of this loss for humans and other organisms.
The causes of this decline in diversity are also well documented and include habitat
destruction and fragmentation, intensive agriculture, poor forestry management,
transport and infrastructure development, air and water pollution, and invasive species.
The identification and protection of IPAs is an important process in stemming the
decline of wild plant diversity and the ecological systems that support it, by ensuring
that the threats to our best sites are recognised and that these invaluable areas are not
lost through indifference or ignorance.
Despite the continuing loss of plant diversity, Europe still has some of the most beautiful
and diverse areas of forests, grasslands, mountains, wetlands, rivers and lakes of
anywhere in the world. The central and eastern European region in particular has a
wealth of large, un-fragmented natural areas; such as increasingly rare areas of natural
and semi-natural grasslands, and the largest areas of old growth or ‘virgin’ forests with
their wide range of plants, trees, fungi, mosses and lichens. Mountain ranges such as the
Carpathians and Rhodopes contain hundreds of endemic plant species, the Baltic region,
Belarus and Russia have unique expanses of bog, wetland and tundra, and the major
European rivers such as the Danube, are home to an impressive number of plants and
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