(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 19 - The EU may not reach the conservation targets set by the Habitats and Birds directives.
This is what emerges from the Report on the state and trends of nature in the European Union, according to which the decline is "serious and continuous".
The European Environment Agency (EEA) document is based on data provided by Member States for the period 2013-2018 on the species and habitat types protected by the directives.
The vast majority (81%) of natural habitats in the EU are in a poor state of conservation.
Despite localized improvements, as in the case of the butterfly Melanargia arge endemic to central and southern Italy, "the pressures that species and habitats face are too great to allow their recovery", it reads.
Almost half of all European wild bird species (47%) are in good condition and 39% are in poor condition.
Only 27% of the species listed in the Habitats Directive are in a good state of conservation, compared to 63% at risk.
On the general objectives, the report certifies "limited progress" towards the 2020 targets, except in the case of non-poultry species, where the objective has almost been achieved.
"The continuing deterioration of some habitats and species outweighs the improvements," the document warns.
(HANDLE).