Natura 2000 - A Coherent Nature Conservation Network? A Proposal for Reforming the Rules on Designation under the Habitats Directive

About this book

This book offers a fresh perspective on the Habitats Directive's rules on designating Natura 2000 – the European biodiversity conservation network. Although the Habitats Directive came into force in the early 1990s, the network lacks coherence and connectivity. The author examines the Habitats Directive's provisions regarding the designation of Natura 2000 and discusses possible reasons for the EU Member States' ongoing lack of compliance with their designation duties. She reassesses the 2015 REFIT Fitness Check of the Nature Directives to look for the Member States' reasons for not complying with their designation duties. She then analyses the Habitats Directive to reveal elements of sub-optimal drafting in its designation provisions. This book goes on to suggest sensible law reforms that do not interfere with the general framework of the Habitats Directive and which keep in mind the relevant national, regional, and international biodiversity law and policy, as well as the relevant case law.

As a result, this book presents an enhanced legal designation framework that can support Member States' compliance with their designated obligations. This book goes beyond the European biodiversity legislation, and also sheds light on the effects of the suggested reforms for the broader biodiversity and environmental law and policy landscape, and concludes that reforming the Habitats Directive would benefit a variety of contemporary areas of law. This book targets academics and policy-makers in the field as it provides a scholarly as well as a hands-on approach to the subject of strengthening European biodiversity law.

Contents

1. The Dire State of Global Biodiversity: An Introduction
2. The Habitats Directive and the Natura 2000 Network
3. The Re-Examination of the 2015 REFIT Fitness Check of the Nature Directives
4. Designating Natura 2000 Under the Habitats Directive
5. Reforming the Rules on Designation
6. Results and Relevance of the Findings
7. Overall Conclusion

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Biography

Bettina Kleining has always felt that the environment needed a stronger lobby. She has thus used her environmental legal expertise to support scientific research of the global oceans, ranging from the seafloor to the atmosphere, to understand the ocean systems and to enable the development of sustainable solutions for pressing societal issues. She has also furthered her knowledge by focusing her postgraduate studies on the European legal system revolving around biodiversity protection. Bettina Kleining graduated in law from both German and British universities. She holds a Ph.D. in European and international environmental law, a Master of Laws in international law, and two state examinations. She is admitted to the German bar as a barrister. She is mentoring young female lawyers during their first steps in the profession.