EU legislation on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive, Council Directive 92/43/EEC) requires Member States to propose a list of sites for a number of species and habitat types, ensuring their protection from threats which could seriously harm them and to maintain and restore them in a favourable status in the whole of the EU by taking the conservation measures needed.

1. Keepers of a commercial stock of specimens of invasive alien species acquired before their inclusion on the Union list shall be allowed up to two years after inclusion of the species on that list to keep and transport live specimens or reproducible parts of those species in order to sell or transfer them to the research or ex-situ conservation establishments and for the purposes of medicinal activities referred to in Article 8, provided that the specimens are kept and transported in contained holding and all appropriate measures are put in place to ensure that reproduction or escape are not possible; or in order to slaughter or humanely cull those specimens to exhaust t ...[+++]heir stock.

1. Keepers of a commercial stock of specimens of invasive alien species acquired before their inclusion on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern shall be allowed up to two years after inclusion of the species in that list to keep and transport in order to sell or hand over live specimens or reproducible parts of those species to the research or ex-situ conservation institutions and medicinal activities referred to in Article 8, provided that the specimens are kept and transported in contained holding and all appropriate measures are put in place to ensure that reproduction or escape are not possible, or to slaughter or huma ...[+++]nely cull them to exhaust their stock.

2. These standards shall ensure duty of care and cover notably the responsibilities of the sending and hosting organisations, the supervision, ongoing training and management of the volunteers, minimum requirements on the coverage of subsistence, accommodation and other relevant expenses, insurance coverage, security procedures and other relevant elements, such as the provision of meals and accommodation, transport from the international airport to the place of work, medical, travel and cancellation insurance, social security coverage during the service and 24-hour support and assistance for the ...[+++]team both on-site and at headquarters, as well as coverage of other costs depending the country of action, the type of humanitarian aid and the terms under which the volunteer and/or the hosting or sending organisation may cancel.

That information should be sent using a procedure that ensures confirmation of receipt by the person concerned only, and not by a third party (a form of registered delivery), in order to protect confidentiality and be certain that the person concerned has indeed received it.

Therefore, it is important for the EU to make sure that these rare species are not only preserved in the form of their genes but also as living plants or animals.