Conservation policy and the EU Habitats Directive: favourable conservation status as a measure of conservation success

Abstract: The Habitats Directive is the key instrument for biodiversity conservation in the European Union. In the Habitats Directive, maintenance or restoration of natural habitats and populations of wild species of Community interest at a favourable conservation status (FCS) is defined as an overall objective of conservation measures. We argue that the concept could serve as a realistic and useful measure of conservation success, as for as practical problems related to its application can be solved. The problems with FCS stem primarily from difficulties in organising comprehensive species and habitat monitoring networks at both the national and European scales, lack of data on historical changes in habitat and species distributions, habitat identification problems, difficulties in the study of habitat-specific structures and functions, and scaling problems. We present conceptual clarifications to the concept, and recommend inclusion of within-species genetic variability and functional characteristics of ecosystems into assessment of FCS. We also present recommendations on the establishment of nationally representative species and habitat monitoring networks.