The Commission presented a new strategy to protect and improve the state of Europe's biodiversity over the next decade. The strategy includes six targets and accompanying actions to greatly reduce the threats to biodiversity.

With this strategy, the Commissions wants to be in line with two major commitments made by EU leaders in March 2010, halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2020, and protecting, valuing and restoring EU biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2050. In addition, it is also in line with global commitments made in Nagoya in October 2010, in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where world leaders adopted a package of measures to address biodiversity loss world wide over the coming decade.

The strategy adopted features six priority targets and accompanying actions to greatly reduce the threats to biodiversity, which address the main drivers of biodiversity loss, and which will reduce the main pressures on nature and ecosystem services in the EU by anchoring biodiversity objectives in key sectoral policies. The actions include:

• Full implementation of existing nature protection legislation and network of natural reserves, to ensure major improvements to the conservation status of habitats and species
• Improving and restoring ecosystems and ecosystem services wherever possible, notably by the increased use of green infrastructure
• Ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and forestry activities
• Safeguarding and protecting EU fish stocks
• Controlling invasive species, a growing cause of biodiversity loss in the EU
• Stepping up the EU's contribution to concerted global action to avert biodiversity loss.

In the EU, biodiversity is lost mainly due to changes in land use, pollution, the overexploitation of resources, the uncontrolled spread of non-native species, and climate change. These pressures are all either constant or increasing in intensity. As an integral part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the biodiversity strategy will contribute to the EU's resource efficiency objectives by ensuring that Europe's natural capital is managed sustainably.