Key messages: Long-term trends show that between 1990 and 2022 the index of 168 common birds decreased by 14% in the EU. The decline was much stronger in common farmland birds, at 40%, while the common forest bird index decreased by 3%.The past trend indicates a steady decline in the population of all common birds, which seems unlikely to be reversed by 2030. 

EU Common bird index, 1990-2022

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References and footnotes

  1. EC, 2020, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Bringing nature back into our lives (COM/2020/380 final).
  2. EC, 2022, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the monitoring framework for the 8th Environment Action Programme: Measuring progress towards the attainment of the Programme’s 2030 and 2050 priority objectives (COM/2022/357 final).