Information is based on vision documents covering all three European subregions (Western Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe, labelled “Europe”) or national biodiversity strategies and action plans and cross-sector development strategies for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (labelled “EE & CA”). The total number of visions per sector and region are indicated in each column, the number of visions including each of the elements is indicated with circles (red • – Europe, green • – EE & CA). Visions for the environment sector include national biodiversity strategies and action plans (n=10) for EE & CA, and visions on conservation areas (n = 1), biodiversity (n = 1) and environment in general (n = 1) for Europe.
Number of visions Europe: 18 EE & CA: 14 Europe: 5
EE & CA: 4 Europe: 5
EE & CA: 0 Europe: 1
EE & CA: 0 Europe: 1
EE & CA: 0 Europe: 3
EE & CA: 0 Europe: 3 EE & CA: 10
Europe: 13 EE & CA: 14
Europe: 13 EE & CA: 12
Europe: 17 EE & CA: 14
Europe: 13 EE & CA: 7 Europe: 14 EE & CA: 14 Number of visions
Cross-sector Agriculture Fisheries Energy Forestry Environment
Nature Regulating contributions
Material contributions Non-material contributions Quality of life
actions, and lower use or acceptance of formulations for “dismantling” or “disinvestment” or “phasing out” of existing policy measures (Sanderson, 2000).
In addition, the stronger coverage of the Sustainable Development Goals, when compared to the coverage of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, in particular of goals directly related to elements of good quality of life and to drivers of environmental degradation, could in part be explained by the framing of several visions in the former set of the Millennium Development Goals, which relied more on indicators of quality of life and less on nature indicators
than the Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, the difference in the level of coverage of sustainability and biodiversity conservation issues, as formulated by the Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Biodiversity Targets, also argues for the need to move beyond a focus on human needs and quality of life to a more comprehensive perspective that acknowledges not only socio-ecological systems and their dynamics, but also the primary role of biodiversity in sustainable development.
Box 5 6
Visions including indigenous and local knowledge: an example from the Sami people. Photo: Geir Rudolfsen
A number of stakeholder reports and studies from Sweden (The Sami Parliament, 2009), Finland (e.g. Kitti et al., 2006) and Norway (Norwegian Saami Association, 2008) reflect knowledge from the Sami people. The Sami Parliament’s Living Environment Program (The Sami Parliament, 2009) for Sweden provides a vision, which focuses on both sustainable nature and culture:
“We wish to live in a resilient Sápmi which is rooted in both healthy nature and a living (thriving) Sami culture. People and nature shall have a long-term capacity to renew themselves and to sustainably evolve even in times of significant changes. Both aspects – nature and culture – shall be experienced as enriching for the surrounding world”.
The vision specifically mentions protection of habitats and ecosystems, and states that “All activities are conducted
according to the precautionary principle. Use of natural resources is conducted sustainably and with a long-term perspective. Nature is kept clean from non-degradable waste and from materials which threaten biological diversity or human health”. Sustainable use of forests is emphasized:
“both the forest structure, biological diversity, supply of lichens and connectedness with other important grazing grounds shall be protected”, but linked to the needs of the reindeer herding industries as found by Sandström et al.
(2016). “Among other things this means that trees are left to grow old, there is no clear-felling and infrastructure such as roads and windmill-parks are scarce or adapted to the needs of the reindeer”.
Box 5 7
Visions for marine protected areas in France. Photo: Anthony Caro
In France, including its overseas territories, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable development and Energy developed a national strategy for the creation and management of marine protected areas (Government of France, 2012). This strategy lays down the framework and principles to set up a national network of marine protected areas. Within each marine protected area belonging to this network, a visioning exercise engaging local stakeholders (e.g. fishermen, local administrations, tourism operators, energy companies) was undertaken to define the targets and sub-targets that should be reached within the next 15 years. The visions and associated targets pertain to natural heritage, water quality, natural resources, sustainable use and development, cultural
heritage, education and governance. Targets can be specific to local contexts, but all marine protected area visions link and integrate the protection and management of marine natural resources and heritage, sustainable development and cultural heritage. The visions included targets for maintaining or improving habitats, species and communities to ensure that they achieve a good conservation status to maintain high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Other biodiversity-related targets included ensuring terrestrial run-off is compatible with high standards of water quality, good conservation of marine resources, sustainable management of fisheries and the associated sector, and the promotion of economic activities which are respectful of the marine environment.
Box 5 8
Increasing demand for biological raw materials in a bioeconomy context.
In the scoping document for this chapter, a special request was included to “consider issues that include increasing demand for biological raw materials in a bioeconomy context (bioenergy, fibres and organic matter), and water availability.” A number of definitions exist for the bioeconomy, e.g. the OECD “refers to the set of economic activities relating to the invention, development, production and use of biological products and processes.”
The European Commission (2012) (p.3) defines bioeconomy as “the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value-added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. Its sectors and industries have strong innovation
potential due to their use of science, enabling and industrial technologies, along with local and tacit knowledge.” The underlying intention is, however, similar - namely the substitution of fossil fuel resources and to close material cycles in industrial processes by using renewable resources such as plant materials like wood, agricultural crops, animal by-products and waste (Hagemann et al., 2016).
When looking, for example, at the European White Paper on the Bioeconomy (BECOTEPS, 2011), Sustainable Development Goals or Aichi Biodiversity Targets are not directly considered.
However, according to a communiqué of the Global