Chapter 12: ‘Within and without’: EU nature conservation law and the protection of wetlands

Caddell, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9293-2467 2025. Chapter 12: ‘Within and without’: EU nature conservation law and the protection of wetlands. Gardner, Royal C., Caddell, Richard and Okuno, Erin, eds. Wetlands and International Environmental Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 319–360. (10.4337/9781802203028.00022) Item availability restricted.

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 18 February 2026 due to copyright restrictions. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (485kB)

Abstract

Wetlands are a vital component of the collective natural environment of the European Union (EU), yet - as in many other jurisdictions - they continue to face a wide array of ecological threats. This Chapter analyses the role that EU environmental laws and policies have played in the protection of wetlands across the continent. To this end, it considers the cornerstone nature conservation Directives and their practical application to wetland conservation, restoration, and management; and the degree to which the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union has further burnished these obligations, while also holding Member States to account for failing to protect these areas. This Chapter focuses on the pioneering obligations established since 1979 under the Birds Directive and the process by which wetland conservation was enshrined as a central component of the objectives of this key instrument. The Chapter also considers the role of the Habitats Directive and the aspirations of the EU to move from site-based conservation towards the restoration of degraded ecosystems as a core environmental aspiration. The Chapter further reviews the EU’s hunting laws and policies - notably the recent restrictions on lead shot in wetlands under its extensive chemical provisions and the legal challenges that this contentious but necessary legislation has faced - while also examining the wider relationship between the European Union and the Ramsar Convention.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Law
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN:	9781802203011
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 February 2025
Date of Acceptance:	13 January 2025
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2025 11:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176260

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item