The European Commission has published a new plan to improve Europe’s biodiversity over the next decade (see 3 May press release). The strategy includes targets on sustainable agriculture, safeguarding fish stocks, controlling invasive species, and protecting and restoring ecosystems.

It falls roughly in line with agreements made at a biodiversity summit in Nagoya, Japan, last November (see Nature, 468, 14; 2010), and March 2010 targets agreed by the European Council to halt biodiversity loss by 2020.

Environmental campaigners welcomed the policy’s intent, but cautioned that it would be actions, not strategies, which determine the fate of biodiversity. “The fundamental solutions to protect nature will not be found in this strategy but rather in the upcoming legislative reforms that will be decided soon, such as the EU Financial Framework, Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy and overseas development cooperation strategy due at the end of this year,” said Alberto Arroyo, the WWF’s conservation policy coordinator (press release).

“The biodiversity strategy is a step in the right direction, but the real test of whether it will work is whether there is the political will and political understanding of what biodiversity is and why it is so important to us. Without these two critical ingredients, we will be condemned to repeat the failure which led to the EU missing its 2010 target of reversing biodiversity loss.”