Other Walloon plans and policies related to biodiversity

• The new Forestry code (entered into force end 2008) for the Walloon Region puts emphasis on forestry practices that encourage biodiver­sity. According to the new Forestry Code, at least 3% of the public broad-leaved forests must be under integral reserve protection status.

• The Sustainable Development Plan of Wallonia, approved in November 2011 by the Strategic Committee, includes seven axes divided into objectives and action plans. Several actions in the Plan take into account, directly or indirectly, issues related to the preservation of biodiversity.

• A sustainable development strategy is being prepared for the Walloon Region. It aims to ensure consistency and strengthen existing plans against the long-term vision of sustainable development for Wallonia. One of the five challenges identified for sustainable development in Wallonia is the restoration and protection of biodiversity. A decree adopted in 2013 imposes to the Walloon government the adoption of a regional Sustainable Development Plan within the first year of the legislature. The Wallonia Nature Network- catalogue of actions foresees to invite the public service Wallonia to transversely integrate in its Sustainable Development Plan the biodiversity dimension.

• Chapter II of the law on the conservation of nature protects a list of animal and plant species. The law on the conservation of nature allows also that municipalities take more stringent measures for the protection of animal and plant species. This could be a good way to protect particular sites such as the migration routes of amphibians. Unfortunately, municipalities rarely use this possibility.

• The Walloon government committed itself in its declaration of regional policy for the period 2009-2014 to create 10,000 hectares of nature reserves. The area of nature reserves created amounted to 5350 hectares end 2013. The Walloon network of protected areas grows slowly but still has a rather limited scale. The main factors involved are the complexity of the procedure for designing sites as Government Nature reserves and declining budgets for the purchase of plots. At the end of 2011, nearly 11,500 ha of natural sites (natural or forest reserves and wetlands of biological interest) had a strong juridical protection status, which corresponds to 0.68% of the Walloon territory. Experts generally believe that it is necessary to provide a strong protection status to 5-10% of the entire territory. Therefore, at least 72,800 ha of ecologically important sites do not yet benefit sufficient protection status in Wallonia. Additional efforts are thus necessary to achieve the recommended minimal surface.