Abstract

For 25 years the Council of Europe has been concerned with the conservation and management of Europe's genetic heritage. After thorough, systematic studies on vertebrate-species, the Council has worked on invertebrates, identifying as threatened 94 species of Rhopalocera and 65 species of Odonata, all important bioindicators, and proposing protective measures to member governments. Two recent decisions have aided this effort: the adoption by the Council's Committee of Ministers, on 19 June 1986, of the charter on invertebrates, which Professor Mario Pavan, Italian Minister of the Environment, considers a veritable cultural landmark. The charter's 12 prin­ciples comment, explain and justify the need to conserve and manage this unique heritage, often unknown and even distrusted; the introduction of invertebrates into the lists of animal species that the signatory states of the Convention on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats, known as the Bern Convention, have agreed to protect. By this decision, it is not only some dozens of invertebrate species that will be protected, but their habitats as well.

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