important plant areas in central and eastern europe - Plantlife

Existing legislation & programmes
IPAs, the Bern Convention and the Emerald Network
Context
The Bern Convention adopted by the Council of Europe in 1979 was one of the first
pan-European conservation initiatives, and contributed directly to the establishment of
the EU Habitats Directive.The Emerald Network, seeks to establish a network of sites
to protect species and habitats of European importance.The Emerald Network is based
on the same principles as the EU Natura 2000, and represents its de facto extension to
non-EU countries.
References
The Bern Convention and Emerald
network website
(www.nature.coe.int)
The Council of Europe website
(www.coe.int)
There have been pilot Emerald Network projects in 22 European countries. In new EU
member states the Natura 2000 network has largely replaced the Emerald Network, but
new Emerald pilot projects are planned for non-EU European countries and also in
Africa.
Bern Convention species and habitats lists
The Bern Convention currently recognises 179 threatened habitat types and 681
threatened species [vascular plants (644), bryophytes (25), algae (12)].A list of 33
threatened fungi species have been prepared by the European Council for the
Conservation of Fungi (ECCF), but are not currently included in the annexes of the Bern
Convention.The Council of Europe recognises 11 biogeographic zones in Europe.
IPAs and the Bern Convention
The criteria lists for selecting IPAs include all of the threatened habitats on Resolution 4,
and all of the threatened species on Appendix 1.
553 IPAs (69%) contain Bern Convention species or habitats.
ANTOANETA PETROVA
Haberlea rhodopensis, a species listed
under the Bern Convention
91