North Rhine-Westphalia joins international network for biodiversity
29 November 2007, Recklinghausen, Germany. The German province North Rhine-Westphalia has signed the international declaration for the conservation of biological diversity Countdown 2010 on Thursday. With its signature, the province commits itself to take action to safeguard species and ecosystems, said Minister of the Environment Eckhard Uhlenberg (CDU) in Recklinghausen. This includes the national park “Siebengebirge” and the extension of the urban forest in the Ruhr basin. More than fifty organizations and institutions from the region joined at the same time.
“Countdown 2010” is an initiative of the World Conservaiotn Union (IUCN). It was created after the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 where Heads of State decided to significantly reduce biodiversity loss by 2010. North Rhine-Westphalia will host the 9th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity next May.
BirdLife Germany (Naturschutzbund – NABU) welcomed the event, and expects the speedy implementation of the commitments made by the province. In order to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target, North Rhine-Westphalia should not only comply with international and European nature conservation laws, but also increase funds available to protect biodiversity. Josef Tumbrinck, Head of the regional NABU branch: “North Rhine-Westphalia has a long way to go.” In the last years, the province had cut the resources for nature conservation dramatically.
In addition, the region had supported Hessen’s initiative to weaken EU nature directives in the German Federal Council. Today, Minister Uhlenberg declared that the region had no intentions to lower the standards of EU nature policy. The Countdown 2010 Advisory Board had admitted the region under this condition.
