The EU’s cryosphere biodiversity blind spot

Gobbi M., Valle B., Rivalta V.T., Caccianiga M., Lencioni V., Ambrosini R., Ficetola G.F.

The Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025–2034) has begun (1), but international and regional guidelines for managing glacier ecosystems are lacking. In the European Union (EU), the only legislative tool that acknowledges glaciers as a protected habitat is the EU Habitats Directive (2), but even that does not fully take into account glacier biodiversity and its complexity (3). The absence of legally mandated biodiversity monitoring in these environments is unacceptable in the face of irreversible loss.
The Earth’s cryosphere, which includes glaciers, permafrost, and snow, is rapidly melting (4, 5). Glacial ecosystems host highly specialized, and often endemic, biodiversity such as the Apennines glacier flea (Desoria calderonis) and the Patagonian stonefly (Andiperla morenensis) (3, 6–8). However, international assessments of the cryosphere crisis largely overlook glacier biodiversity, focusing instead on glacial melting, hydrological or climatic impacts, and cultural importance (4, 5). As a result, biodiversity remains peripheral in policies and strategies designed to address glacier loss.
To confront this failure, the EU and its member countries should implement integrated and enforceable frameworks to document and preserve glacial biodiversity. Italy, home of several glaciers of the European Alps, provided a promising precedent by recognizing glaciers as a “common good” in 2024 (9), but the commitment is hollow without a concrete policy that enforces protection. The EU and its member countries should establish multidisciplinary panels in glacierized regions to design and coordinate place-based management strategies, such as limiting skiing activities at the sites where the endangered species occur (10). In addition, EU countries that contain glaciers should adopt legally binding guidelines to ensure systematic biodiversity monitoring and to mitigate harm caused by human infrastructure. Finally, even if glaciers disappear, their biodiversity may not be doomed to extinction; some species could survive in cold landforms (11) that provide stable microclimatic conditions. Identifying climatic refugia will allow countries to define strictly protected sites, thereby curbing biodiversity loss (12).