Reconnect with Europe's nature on World Environment Day

Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth, within species, between species and across ecosystems. We are part of biodiversity and depend completely on it for our livelihoods and well-being. The biological world provides a huge array of goods including food, fibres, fuels and medicines, as well as vital ecosystem services such as maintaining climate stability, and cleaning air and water.

Halting the loss of biodiversity is one the major challenges of the twenty-first century. It is a vast issue, relevant to us all and demanding awareness and action at all levels, from local to global. Unfortunately, public understanding of biodiversity’s importance is often limited. Despite being crucial for our well-being and survival, many people are not sure what biodiversity is or feel disconnected from it.                                          

The 'Our Natural Europe' or 'ONE' stories are being developed by the EEA and its Eionet partners to illustrate in everyday language what biodiversity is and how we’re connected to it. The stories will highlight the variety of ecosystems and biodiversity of Europe and the threats and pressures they face, including habitat fragmentation and destruction, invasive alien species, pollution, over-harvesting and climate change.

The first ONE stories are from Finland and Switzerland

• 'Web of knowledge, web of life, web of wonder' tells the story of a little understood group of forest mushrooms, the webcaps, and the ecosystem services they provide.

• 'Circles of discovery' is about organic apple production and what it can do for biodiversity.

The ONE stories are also available through the European Environmental Atlas. The Atlas showcases individuals and communities responding to environmental change across Europe. These first two stories will be followed by others from each of the EEA member countries in coming months.

What is Eionet?

Eionet is a partnership network of the EEA and its member and cooperating countries involving approximately 900 experts and more than 350 national institutions. The network supports the collection and organisation of data and the development and dissemination of information concerning Europe’s environment.