2 Axes – 10 Objectives

Belgium is a highly urbanized country and this high degree of urbanization results in fragmentation of green and blue open spaces in, within and across urban and peri-urban areas. This affects the surrounding environment: animal species who cannot access a feeding or nesting site, migratory routes being cut, surface of natural habitats being reduced, etc. 

But it also has major socio-economic consequences such as:

• loss of efficiency in the provision of basic services (e.g. CO2 absorption);
• high dependence on individual transport (e.g. cars), leading in particular to a limitation of spaces reserved for water and nature;

Belgium has a high ecological footprint and a big impact on biodiversity: it is due to its specific production and consumption patterns, high volumes of importations, exportations and transits and its dense population. These production and consumption patterns have an impact on Belgian territory but also abroad, as Belgium is a large importer of commodities and products. This results in loss, fragmentation and degradation of natural habitats and ecosystems – such as forests, savannahs, wetlands, mangroves, rivers, etc. – both nationally and abroad.