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Many bird species depend on agricultural areas and forests. Specific cultivation practices are often a cause of their endangerment. A focus of this study is to analyse which bird species are significantly affected by agriculture and forestry in Germany. Cultivation rules for the protection of selected bird species will be developed. Methodological and technical aspects as well as legal implications will be addressed.

Background

The EU Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 (Birds Directive) created a protection scheme for all of Europe's wild birds. Article 2 obliges EU Member States to take the necessary actions to ensure adequate population sizes for the bird species specified in Article 1 , taking into account economic and recreational requirements.
Many bird species depend on agricultural areas and forests. Specific cultivation practices are often a cause of their endangerment. In order to protect these species, Article 4 & 5 of the Birds Directive and Articles 12 and 13 of the Habitats Directive rovide for important prohibitions of harmful and endangering activities.

In Germany, these prohibitions have been implemented in §§ 42, 43 of the German Federal Nature Conservation Act (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz, BNatschG) in a way that exempts all agricultural and forest uses from the prohibitions as long as they are following good farming practices. This implementation expresses the opinion of German legislation that the use of agricultural and forest lands in general cannot endanger protected bird species. The European Court of Justice criticises this in its decision of 10 January 2006 as an insufficient implementation of the Habitats Directive.

Project objectives

This project aims at illustrating the vulnerability and distribution of native bird species. A focus is to analyse which bird species are significantly affected by agriculture and forestry in Germany. Cultivation rules for the protection of selected bird species will be developed. Methodological and technical issues as well as the legal implications in the context of the Birds and Habitats Directives will be addressed. In addition, the possibilities for integrating the project results into the species conservation aspects of the Birds and Habitats Directive in Germany will be assessed.