Europe is a continent rich in natural and cultural heritage, with a diverse range of landscapes and habitats and a wealth of flora and fauna. The environmental and biodiversity conditions and issues vary greatly across the vast European region.
European biodiversity includes 488 species of birds, 260 species of mammals, 151 species of reptiles, 85 species of amphibians, 546 species of freshwater fishes and about 1,100 marine fishes, 20-25,000 species of vascular plants and well over 100,000 species of invertebrates. Europe overseas has more endemic animal and plant species than are found on the whole of continental Europe.
Possibly more than anywhere else in the world the European landscapes have been changed by human activities; for centuries most of Europe’s land has been used by humans to produce food, timber and fuel and proving living space, so that now the continent is covered with a mosaic of natural and semi-natural habitats surrounding urbanized areas. Consequently, European species are to a large extent dependent upon these semi-natural habitats maintained by human activity, particularly, traditional, non-intensive forms of land management. These habitats modifications have placed great pressures on our wildlife and natural areas.
Habitat loss and degradation as a result of land use changes are the major causes of species declines in terrestrial environments. In European rivers and wetlands major threats include dam construction, water abstraction, introduced species and pollution. In the marine areas, over-harvesting is reducing fishery stocks to below their recovery limits, and factors such as bycatch and pollution are threatening marine mammals.
Although considerable efforts have been made to protect and conserve European habitats and species, biodiversity decline and the associated loss of vital ecosystem services continues to be a major concern in the region.
Threatened Europe |
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44% of freshwater molluscs
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Besides the great diversity of flora and fauna, a large proportion of European animals and plants are unique to the region: about 27%of terrestrial mammal species are endemic as well as 77% of amphibians, 52% of reptiles, 33% of butterflies, 13% of dragonflies, 81% of freshwater fishes, 88% freshwater molluscs and 16% aquatic plants.
