Nature protection and biodiversity - Why care? (Denmark)

The status of biodiversity in Denmark reflects the country’s high population density and a long history of intensive commercial exploitation of raw materials, soils, timber, water and stocks of fish and game. The vast majority of the country is covered by highly modified urban, silvicultural and arable areas, where construction, cultivation and plantations limit biological diversity. However, there are some natural areas left with high biological diversity.

The coastal and marine ecosystems must be considered the most important Danish contribution to European biodiversity, as Denmark holds a major proportion of the areas of dunes, saltmarsh and shallow marine waters, of crucial importance for specialised lichens, plants, fungi and invertebrates, as well as fish and water birds.

The best current estimate is that biodiversity is still under heavy pressure.