On appeal against the decision of the Criminal Court East-Flanders, Oudenaarde division of 27 February 2024, in a case of various infringements of CITES, species protection and animal welfare regulations in the Flemish Region of Belgium, the Court of Appeal of Ghent imposed a total fine of 40.000 euro and a definitive ban on keeping animals for the defendant. The Court ruled that the defendant illegally kept many protected birds, turtles and reptiles, as well as illegal nets and cages, and that he had caused important, real damage to nature and biodiversity.

The Court referred to the first instance judge’s reasonings and confirmed the financial compensation, using the BIOVAL calculation method. The Court stated that as a reintroduction of the same number of birds is prohibited by the Flemish Species Regulation of 15 May 2009, financial compensation is the only possible way of restoration and that this financial “compensation restores the legal situation”.

The defendant was therefore ordered to pay a financial compensation of in total 62.545,06 euro to the Flemish Environment and Nature Fund (MINA-fonds) within 6 months, on the basis of art. 16.6.6 of the Flemish Region Decree of 5 April 1995 on General Environmental Policy. This public fund is granted all the amounts of fines and compensations for nature restoration purposes. The Court reduced the financial compensation granted by the first instance judge for the Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) by 1.500 euro per specimen, stating that this bird may be combatted under strict circumstances during part of the year.

In a case of illegal killing of a grey heron (Ardea cinerea), a sanction of € 4.000 (half of it suspended) was ordered. In addition to the punishment, the public prosecutor also demanded financial compensation for the damage to nature and referred to Bioval's calculation method. The legal basis is art. 16.6.6 of the Flemish Region Decree of 5 April 1995 on General Environmental Policy. According to this article the court can order restoration of the place into the original state or “adjustment works”. The court decided that restoration in natura by breeding and reintroducing was not only impossible, but also prohibited according to the Flemish Species Regulation of 15 May 2009. The court ordered financial compensation instead, using the BIOVAL calculation method: € 5.000 per grey heron (large long-living species, least concern, normal cultural significance, normal/generalist ecological significance and normal contribution to welfare). The court considered that the damage to nature was estimated by Bioval as accurately and concretely as possible by means of scientific criteria, and therefore must be applied. The offender was ordered to pay € 5.000 to the Flemish Environment and Nature Fund (MINA-fonds) within 4 months. (This public fund is granted all the amounts of fines and compensations for nature restoration purposes.)

In a case of various infringements of CITES and species protection regulations in the Flemish Region of Belgium, a sanction of 8 months imprisonment (4 months suspended) and a fine of 24.000 euro was ordered. The defendant was also banned from keeping animals for life. An NGO Bird Protection Flanders was granted 7.500 euro for its personal moral damages in view of its statutory goal and the efforts it deploys to protect nature and birds. Furthermore, regarding the intrinsic ecological damage, the court applied art. 16.6.6 of the Flemish Region Decree of 5 April 1995 on General Environmental Policy. According to this article the court can order restoration of the place into the original state or “adjustment works”. The court decided that restoration in natura by breeding and reintroducing a same number of birds was not only impossible, but also prohibited according to the Flemish Species Regulation of 15 May 2009. The court ordered financial compensation instead, using the BIOVAL calculation method stating that it was based on scientific and objective criteria and that the amounts are reasonable. The court ruled the defendant had caused ecological damage by possessing the birds illegally. He was ordered to pay a financial compensation of in total 68.545,06 euro to the Flemish Environment and Nature Fund (MINA-fonds) within 6 months. This public fund is granted all the amounts of fines and compensations for nature restoration purposes.

In a criminal case concerning the destruction of the habitat of the Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni) in a Natura 2000 zone, a winery and its directors were ordered to pay to the French State an amount of €184,752.40 for ecological damages. This amount is to be used for nature restoration. The winery had ploughed 6,000 m2 and cleared trees and vegetation on an area of ​​over 5 hectares in the “Plaine des Maures” nature reserve in the Var without a permit.

By judgment of 26 March 2024, the French Court of Cassation rejected the winery's claim and confirmed the monetary assessment of the ecological damage by the Court of Appeal under art. 1249 of the French Civil Code, because restoration in kind by the winery was not possible as a matter of fact. The compensation for the loss of habitat of the Greek tortoise and the Western green lizard over 5 hectares was estimated on the basis of the estimated number of tortoises destroyed and a reintroduction cost of €6,127.72 per tortoise and €4,000 per Western green lizard. This reintroduction cost includes not only a value for each specimen before and after the reintroduction, but also the cost of monitoring the reintroduction during 2 years. The Court stressed that the “market value of a specimen would not be an appropriate criterion”.