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Denmark scraping the bottom in terms of nature conservation
Christian Wenande
October 21st, 2020
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New EU report reveals that only Belgium performs worse when it comes to habitat conservation
Not great reading for Danish nature (photo: EEA)
Denmark often ranks high when it comes to livability, digitalisation, happiness and the work-life balance.
But in regards to nature conservation, the Danes are not much of a beacon of progress. Quite the contrary.
According to the ‘State of Nature in the EU 2013-2018’ report – just published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) – only Belgium performed worse when it comes to habitat conservation.
“Belgium and Denmark have, on the other hand, the lowest share of habitats with a good conservation status and – together with the United Kingdom – report more than 70 percent of their habitats as having a bad conservation status,” the EEA report found.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s first national parks on the horizon
Sucks for species too
Romania, Estonia and Greece led the way for habitat conservation in the EU.
Denmark also fared poorly in terms of conservation levels of species, coming in fifth last ahead of just Spain, Luxembourg, Austria and bottom-ranked Croatia.
Well over 50 percent of Denmark’s species status were rated as being either ‘bad’ or ‘poor’.
Cyprus, Ireland and Estonia were the EU leaders in that category.
READ ALSO: Day of the jackal: nature in crisis
Action taken
The good news is that Denmark seems to have identified its nature dilemmas and is working towards improvement.
“Eight member states (Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom) report that conservation measures, for more than 90 percent of their habitats, have been identified and taken,” the report stated.
Indeed, the government recently unveiled the country’s first national parks, and more is being done to transform Denmark agriculture-heavy landscape into habitats more conducive to nature conservation.
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