The ‘Birds Directive’ promulgated on April 2,1979, European Union’s very first legislation for the protection of nature, has improved the situation for many endangered species such as the Madeira petrel, white spoonbill, the Dalmatian pelican, cormorant pygmy, white-tailed eagle, and the imperial Iberian eagle. In its thirty years of protecting the European avifauna, the situation has become alarming for some bird species. Among the 500 species of European wild birds, 43 percent continue to decline. Among birds of the fields, the numbers have fallen by almost 50 percent since 1980.

The main cause of these changes: global warming. Migratory birds simply recede to locations farther north. According to researchers, these birds will indeed move significantly northwards where it is more favorable to their reproduction.

“Wild birds, mostly migratory, are a common heritage to all Member States,” said Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for Environment. The EU has also declared “to do more to better integrate the requirements for protection of birds in agricultural policy.” The EU admits that conservation is inconceivable without genuine international cooperation, including the establishment of Special Protection Areas (SPAs).

Divided into twenty-seven member countries and integrated into the ecological network, there are now nearly 5,000 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that cover more than 10 percent of EU territory and large coastal sea areas.

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Via Eurosite/The Portugal News Online