3: Nature management policy in Flanders

The biodiversity present in a given region depends mainly on land-use, on the place that nature occupies therein and on the quality of the environment. The balance between natural processes and functions has been disturbed by human impact and has resulted in biodiversity loss. The survival of species is in the first place a question of conserving the (natural) heterogeneity and dynamism of ecosystems. Despite the increasing attention for nature since 1970, the regulating protection measures and the increasing number of reserves, biodiversity in Flanders is still declining. Only a few species (groups) have shown an increase in biodiversity over the last years. Conserving biodiversity implies an optimal protection, the restoration and development of nature in Flanders, also in urban areas, and an increase in protected nature and forest areas. The nature policy is part of the environmental policy plan under the theme "Loss of biodiversity". Under this theme, the relation with the underlying causes of this loss, the so-called VER-themes, get special attention. Within the theme "Loss of biodiversity", policy is concentrating on the following strategies:

• establishment of a coherent and functional ecological network;
• introduction of a nature-oriented environmental quality in vulnerable and high-value areas;
• additional measures for endangered, vulnerable and/or rare species;
• increase of awareness and cooperation for nature conservation by the public and the administrations - with special emphasis for optimal ecological integration if functions are inter-related;
• focused scientific research to sustain and evaluate management and conservation measures;
• implementation of international obligations and the use of international initiatives on nature and forest policies at European and international level.