Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a system in which living things (plants, animals, bacteria, etc.) and their non-living surroundings interact as a functional unit.

Biodiversity plays a vital role in ecosystem services, the services that nature supplies and on which humans depend. These include pollination, climate regulation, flood protection, soil fertility and the production of food, fuel, fibre and medicines. Human consumption and behaviour have led both directly and indirectly to a rapid deterioration in biodiversity, resulting in ecosystem collapse.

Since the 2000s, the EU has been trying to address biodiversity loss by means of action plans and strategies, the latest of which is the 2030 biodiversity strategy, designed to put Europe’s biodiversity back on the path to recovery by 2030. The strategy, part of the European Green Deal, contains commitments and actions to protect and restore biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystems.

SEE ALSO

• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem services
• European Commission
• Nature protection
• EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 (summary)
• European Green Deal (summary)
• Protecting Europe’s biodiversity (Natura 2000) (summary)
• EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030 (European Commission).