“This study shows that the decline in biodiversity in the Nordic countries has been going on for a long time and at a rapid rate since 1990. This negative trend indicates that it is highly unlikely that the target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 can be achieved by the Nordic countries”, says Project Manager Bo Normander from Denmark’s National Environmental Research Institute, Århus University.

Biological diversity can be defined as an abundance of variation between living organisms of all origins and the ecological environments in which these organisms live.

It is only in recent years that methods to measure this development have been used. Current reporting measures the biological diversity through both quantitative and qualitative indicators. The quantitative part focuses on land use. The study shows a negative development in the whole Nordic Region, for example as regards grassland and mire. There are, however, rays of hope – forest areas have increased to a certain extent and that may have a positive effect on biodiversity.

The qualitative part includes the population development in a certain biotop, for example, birds or the number of old trees in the forests. Here the comparison is mainly a negative trend.

The report concludes that there is a need for drastic measures and a re-assessment of the management of the countryside in the Nordic countries to turn the tide. At the same time monitoring biodiversity ought to be co-ordinated. Today there are major differences between the Nordic countries which make it more difficult to make comparisons.

The report, which is part of the project NordBio 2010, will, amongst other things, form the basis of a symposium on biodiversity under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers this autumn.