The Birds Directive (formally known as Council Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds) is the oldest piece of EU legislation on the environment and one of its cornerstones which was unanimously adopted in April 1979 as the Directive 79/409/EEC. Amended in 2009, it became the Directive 2009/147/EC. It aims to protect all European wild birds and the habitats of listed species, in particular through the designation of

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

s (often known by the acronym SPA). The Birds Directive is one of the EU's two directives in relation to wildlife and nature conservation, the other being the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...

. The Habitats Directive led to the setting up of a network of

Special Areas of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, which together with the existing Special Protection Areas form a network of protected sites across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

called

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

. In the UK the Directive is implemented by the

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom implemented to comply with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds. In short, the act gives protection to native species (especia ...

References

* Jan-Henrik Meyer: 2010. ''Saving Migrants: a Transnational Network supporting Supranational Bird Protection Policy in the 1970's.'' In Transnational Networks in Regional Integration. Informal Governance in Europe 1945–83, edited by W. Kaiser, M. Gehler and B. Leucht. Basingstoke. Palgrave, 176–198. , . * Jan-Henrik Meyer:
Zivilgesellschaftliche Mobilisierung und die frühe europäische Umweltpolitik. Die Vogelschutzrichtlinie der Europäischen Gemeinschaften von 1979.
' In: Themenportal Europäische Geschichte (2013).

External links

Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds
(Official text of the old directive on

EUR-Lex Eur-Lex (stylized EUR-Lex) is an official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union (EU), published in 24 official languages of the EU. The Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union is also published on EU ...

)
National execution measures of the old directive

Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds
(Official text on

)
National execution measures of the new directive

A page about the Birds Directive
at the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

s website
A page about the Birds Directive at the JNCC's website
Bird conservation European Union directives Environmental law in the European Union 2009 in law 2009 in the European Union {{EU-stub

See also

References

External links