The Bureau of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats held its first annual meeting from 8 to 10 April 2025 in Strasbourg.

The agenda of this meeting included a presentation of the progress made by the Working Group overseeing the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Bern Convention for the period to 2030, which met jointly with the Ad hoc Working Group on the reporting, as well as that of the Working Group on exploring mechanisms to guide amendments to the appendices of the Bern Convention.

The progress on the Convention's Programme of Activities for 2025-2026 were also reviewed, in particular the activities relating to the European Diploma for Protected Areas (including preparations for the celebrations of the Diploma's 60th anniversary) and the Emerald Network.

The Bureau then focused on the main conclusions of the work of the Expert Groups on Invasive Alien Species and on Amphibians and Reptiles, which both met in March 2025.

Following the monitoring of the implementation of the legal aspects of the Convention, including the biennial reports and the online reporting system, the Bureau examined several files submitted by complainants, reporting alleged violations of the Convention. New complaints received by the Convention Secretariat in recent months were also presented to the Bureau for consideration.

More information, including the full agenda for the meeting, is available on the web page dedicated to the meeting.