From Environmental Ethics to Nature Conservation Policy: Natura 2000 and the Burden of Proof

Natura 2000 is a network of natural sites whose aim is to preserve species and habitats of relevance in the European Union. The policy underlying Natura 2000 has faced widespread opposition from land users and received extensive support from environmentalists. This paper addresses the ethical framework for Natura 2000 and the probable moral assumptions of its main stakeholders. Arguments for and against Natura 2000 were analyzed and classified according to “strong” or “weak” versions of the three main theories of environmental ethics – anthropocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism. Weak (intergenerational) anthropocentrism was found to underlie the Natura 2000 network itself and the positions of environmentalists, while strong (traditional) anthropocentrism pervaded the positions of economic developers. Land users seemed to fall somewhere between weak and strong anthropocentrism. The paper discusses the relation between ethics and different attitudes towards Natura 2000, highlighting some of the implications for the network’s ongoing implementation. It is shown that Natura 2000 achieves a strong reversal of the burden of proof from conservation to economic development and land use change under anthropocentrism. It is argued that the alleged theoretical divide between anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism in relation to the burden of proof does not seem to hold in practice. Finally, it is predicted that the weak versions of anthropocentrism, biocentrism, and ecocentrism, are likely to converge extensively in respect to nature conservation policy measures.“Charting the depths of law and policy disputes yield an understanding of ethical differences.” Paul B. Thompson (2002, p. 189).     

Implementing Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management in a Decentralized Setting: Italy as a Case Study

The study explored the sub-national implementation of the Pan-European Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for Sustainable Forest Management in Italy, based on the statistical analysis of answers to a questionnaire provided by representatives of the Italian sub-national forest administrations. The questionnaire explored the implementation of C&I in five applications and through the analytical lenses of ‘suitability of C&I to sub-national contexts’ and ‘adaptability of administrations to C&I’. The analysis of suitability and adaptability made it possible to identify and compare challenges in, and successful experiences with, the implementation of C&I, which were then used to formulate recommendations aimed at encouraging implementation and promoting academic and policy debate. The study reveals that C&I were implemented to a moderate extent. This level of implementation was determined most of all by the suitability of C&I to the Italian sub-national contexts, and less by the adaptability of administrations. Recommendations to foster implementation of and dialogue on C&I include the need for Italian sub-national administrations to transpose the Pan-European C&I into sub-national sets tailored to local circumstances by, for example, modifying existing C&I or integrating these into new customized indicator sets.     

Mapping forest ecosystem functions for landscape planning in a mountain Natura2000 site,Central Italy

In last decades, numerous efforts have been carried out by the scientific community to assess the multifunctional role of forests in supporting the forest decision-making processes. Recently developed in Italy, the Forest Landscape Management Planning seems to be the most suitable tool to maintain the sustainability balance between forests and local populations. This research identifies and maps different forest ecosystem functions in a mountain Natura2000 Network site by performing a spatial estimation of forest inventory parameters, and implementing a multi-criteria and multi-level approach. Final results on mapping of forest functions show acceptable values of classification accuracy.     

Human Activities in Natura 2000 Sites: A Highly Diversified Conservation Network

The Natura 2000 network was established across the European Union’s (EU) Member States with the aim to conserve biodiversity, while ensuring the sustainability of human activities. However, to what kind and to what extent Natura 2000 sites are subject to human activities and how this varies across Member States remains unspecified. Here, we analyzed 111,269 human activity records from 14,727 protected sites in 20 Member States. The frequency of occurrence of activities differs among countries, with more than 86 % of all sites being subjected to agriculture or forestry. Activities like hunting, fishing, urbanization, transportation, and tourism are more frequently recorded in south European sites than in northern or eastern ones. The observed variations indicate that Natura 2000 networks are highly heterogeneous among EU Member States. Our analysis highlights the importance of agriculture in European landscapes and indicates possible targets for policy interventions at national, European, or “sub-European” level. The strong human presence in the Natura 2000 network throughout Member States, shows that conservation initiatives could succeed only by combining social and ecological sustainability and by ensuring the integration of policies affecting biodiversity.     

EIA screening and nature protection in Denmark

The number of environmental impact assessment (EIA) screenings in Denmark has increased dramatically since 2000. This is a consequence of increased pig production as well as the concentration of production on larger farms. In the same period, EIA rules have developed primarily due to an increased focus on the protection of groundwater and Natura 2000 sites. In particular, the implementation of Natura 2000 in Danish legislation has increased the demands on many farms. In its rulings on appealed cases, the Nature Protection Board of Appeal has strengthened its demands, and this is mirrored in screening practices. In this paper, the demands formulated in the guidelines of local authorities were analysed in order to investigate how the protection of groundwater, coastal waters, lakes and Natura 2000 sites develops through EIA screening. It is concluded that the level of protection has improved, and that the main cause for this is not EIA regulations as such, but the positive role which the implementation of the Natura 2000 objectives has played in this development. However, it was also found that the formulation of demands varies greatly between the counties, thus often resulting in ambiguity and leaving room for quite different practices in different counties.     

Governing local sustainability

This paper draws upon the DISCUS (Developing Institutional and Social Capacity for Sustainable Development) research project, co-funded by the European Commission. The project was undertaken during 2001 – 2004 and involved an in-depth study of 40 European towns and cities in order to understand the institutional and social factors and conditions that might contribute to policy ‘achievement' or ‘failure' in local sustainable development policy and practice. Based on the findings of this research it proposes a conceptual framework for local sustainable development, linking the concepts of institutional capital, social capital and governance to provide a model for understanding the governing of local sustainability. The research shows that in those cases that exhibit sustainable development policy achievements, there are also greater levels of civil society activity and knowledge regarding sustainability issues, and high levels of institutional capacity. Confident local government is crucial to the development of institutional capacity and to institutional learning. One aspect of this is local authorities being equipped to address the longer-term issues and to have a strategic vision for a sustainable future.     

The constitution of power in Norway's protected areas: on shore and in the sea

This article aims at comparing power resources that opponents to environmental policy apply in shaping and constructing discourses that contest the implementation of marine and terrestrial area protection. Document analyses and qualitative interviews have been undertaken with key actors and documents in two case areas to show how actors, knowledge, and financial and organisational capacities are introduced in the planning processes in order to contest the dominating environmental discourse established by environmental authorities. The results demonstrate how opponents to the terrestrial case were rather fragmented, consisting of a wide range of local and regional actors with various interests and agendas, and without substantial financial and organisational strength. Here, the environmental administration managed to create a partnership with local authorities that eventually proclaimed the national park as a win–win situation for local society. As a contrast, the opponents to the marine case had strong organisational, financial and even scientific capacities that were effectively unified with local authorities in the Skjerstad fjord. Here, the win–win situation was not accepted by the local parties. Together, these resources seemed to explain some of the variance in institutional responses in environmental administration, and finally different outcomes of the two cases.     

Maintenance of Forest Biodiversity in a Post-Soviet Governance Model: Perceptions by Local Actors in Lithuania

Successful biodiversity conservation does not depend on ecologic knowledge alone. Good conservation policies and policy implementation tools are equally important. Moreover, the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of local actors, directly in charge of operations in the field, are a key to successful policy implementation. The connections between policy objectives and their implementation as well as the involvement of local actors’ efforts in implementing policy objectives largely depend on the governance model in use. This article assesses the knowledge of local actors in relation to the biodiversity conservation objectives and tools in Lithuanian forest management. As a main framework for this study, the needs assessment approach was applied. The study used both in-depth open-ended interviews and follow-up telephone interviews. Two state forest enterprises in Lithuania were selected as the study sites. The findings indicate that policy objectives in the field of forest biodiversity conservation and the related tools are well known but not well understood by those in charge of forest biodiversity policy implementation. To improve the situation, a transition toward adaptive learning and participatory governance as a means of facilitating conservation efforts is proposed.     

Current and future effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network for protecting plant species in Sardinia: a nice and complex strategy in its raw state?

Sardinia hosts 186 endemic plant species and represents an important centre for Mediterranean biodiversity. In view of the threats facing its flora, 27 terrestrial vascular plants have been listed in international regulations and 124 sites designated for species and habitat conservation. This study analyses gaps in the Natura 2000 network and the current and future distribution of four representative plants. Each plant population was georeferenced and the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network was compared according to conservation status and distribution. Future species distributions were modelled by considering current climatic conditions and future scenarios. In apparent discordance with other results, we found that the Natura 2000 network represents most plant species well. This research shows a forward-looking survey on the regional effectiveness of protection measures which led us to confirm the need to enhance the current state of the Natura 2000 network by implementing local legislation and regulations.     

Realization of participation and spatiality in participatory forest management – a policy–practice analysis from Zanzibar,Tanzania

The efforts in sustainable natural resource management have given rise to decentralization of forest governance in the developing world with hopes for better solutions and effective implementation. In this paper, we examine how spatially sensitive participation is realized from policy to practice in the process of establishing participatory forest management in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Our policy–practice analysis shows that the policies in Zanzibar strongly support decentralization and local level participation has in practice been realized. However, the policy does not emphasize participatory process design nor address the possibilities of using spatial information and technologies to ensure wider participation. Thus, the practices fall short in innovativeness of using site-sensitive information with available technologies. Reflecting the Zanzibari Community Forest Management Agreements (CoFMA) context with examples of participatory use of spatial information and technologies in other parts of the world, we discuss ways to improve the Zanzibari CoFMA process towards increased participation, communication, local sense of ownership and more sustainable land management decisions, and argue for the future implementation of CoFMA as a spatially sensitive participatory process.     

Implementation and Participation in China's Local Environmental Politics: Challenges and Innovations

With its recently published 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP, 2011–2015) China's leaders have set ambitious national environmental targets and goals for developing a more sustainable economy and society. Past records, however, show that ambitious goals and regulations too often fail due to shortcomings in local implementation and civil society participation. At the sub-national level, economic, political, and social interests continue to dictate the political agenda and the participation of non-state actors remains limited. This article analyses these implementation and participation gaps and reviews recent innovations and experiments to address these gaps in local environmental politics in China. Although many ongoing experiments and new institutional arrangements can be identified, these projects and initiatives remain limited in scope and geographical spread. Further advances in policy enforcement and in opening up policy design to citizens and other non-state actors at the local level are needed in order to turn the article ambitions of the 12th FYP into reality.     

Inspiring Futures for European Local Governments!

Since 1994, more than 2000 European local governments have adopted the principles of the Aalborg Charter as a basis for local sustainability action. Now, ten years later in June 2004, these local governments will gather once again in Aalborg, Denmark at the Fourth European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns in Europe, Inspiring Futures—Aalborg+10. The Aalborg+10 event will celebrate a decade of European local sustainability action, evaluate progress and stagnation, and, more importantly, will adopt new commitments to move from Agenda to Action. The conference will be crucial for accelerating local sustainability in Europe and to move towards Local Action. Here an overview is provided on the context against which this important conference is set and its expected outcomes.     

Inspiring Futures for European Local Governments!

Since 1994, more than 2000 European local governments have adopted the principles of the Aalborg Charter as a basis for local sustainability action. Now, ten years later in June 2004, these local governments will gather once again in Aalborg, Denmark at the Fourth European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns in Europe, Inspiring Futures—Aalborg+10. The Aalborg+10 event will celebrate a decade of European local sustainability action, evaluate progress and stagnation, and, more importantly, will adopt new commitments to move from Agenda to Action. The conference will be crucial for accelerating local sustainability in Europe and to move towards Local Action. Here an overview is provided on the context against which this important conference is set and its expected outcomes.     

From policy mix to policy networks: assessing climate and land use policy interactions in Mato Grosso,Brazil

ABSTRACT

In the climate and land use fields, policy mixes are complex in terms of the levels of governance, actors, and roles. They consist of policy instruments that target different actors and address multiple goals across several policy sectors and levels. The analysis of these complex arrangements extends beyond purely technical efficiency criteria, as several sources of tension between instruments may be identified, such as conflicting interests, goals, and approaches to implementation. The proliferation of governance networks complicates the understanding of actors’ interactions, the types of authority influencing the outcomes of policy mixes, and importance of different levels of governance. This article provides a framework to address these analytical challenges, particularly the interconnected networks of policy actors and policy instruments. It draws on polycentric governance literature to analyse how power matters in policy networks. This includes identifying distinct types of power, actors’ position, and variables that explain patterns of conflict, competition, convergence, and divergence in policy choices and outcomes. The framework is applied to the climate and land use policies implemented in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Several methods were used to clarify these variables and to characterise policy mixes being implemented in the region, including social network analysis.     

Expansion of Nature Conservation Areas: Problems with Natura 2000 Implementation in Poland?

In spite of widespread support from most member countries’ societies for European Union policy, including support for the sustainable development idea, in many EU countries the levels of acceptance of new environmental protection programmes have been and, in particular in new member states, still are considerably low. The experience of the countries which were the first to implement union directives show that they cannot be effectively applied without widespread public participation. The goal of this study was, using the example of Poland, to assess public acceptance of the expansion of nature conservation in the context of sustainable development principles and to discover whether existing nature governance should be modified when establishing new protected areas. The increase in protected areas in Poland has become a hotbed of numerous conflicts. In spite of the generally favourable attitudes to nature which Polish people generally have, Natura 2000 is perceived as an unnecessary additional conservation tool. Both local authorities and communities residing in the Natura areas think that the programme is a hindrance, rather than a help in the economic development of municipalities or regions, as was initially supposed. This lack of acceptance results from many factors, mainly social, historic and economic. The implications of these findings for current approach to the nature governance in Poland are discussed.     

Advancing the deliberative turn in natural resource management: an analysis of discourses on the use of local resources

The natural resource management literature stresses the need for public participation and community involvement in resource management and planning. Recently, some of this literature turned to the theory on deliberative democracy and demonstrated that a deliberative perspective on participation can help to challenge established practices and contribute with new ideas about how to conduct participation. The purpose of this paper is to consider the latest developments in deliberative democracy and outline the implications arising from these insights for a "deliberative turn" in resource management. A bottom-up protected area establishment, the Gori?ko Landscape Park, is examined. The empirical case is discussed from a discursive perspective, which relied on John Dryzek's approach to discourse analysis here used to explore the construction of discourses on the use of local natural resources. Two discourses are identified and the way these interfaced with the participatory park establishment process is considered. Findings indicate that advocates of the two discourses engaged differently with the participatory tools used and this had important implications for the park establishment. The case study suggests that, in contexts where participation has been recently introduced, knowledge of discourses on the use of local natural resources and of mobilization strategies actors may pursue could usefully assist in the design and implementation of participatory processes.     

Roadless and Low-Traffic Areas as Conservation Targets in Europe

With increasing road encroachment, habitat fragmentation by transport infrastructures has been a serious threat for European biodiversity. Areas with no roads or little traffic (“roadless and low-traffic areas”) represent relatively undisturbed natural habitats and functioning ecosystems. They provide many benefits for biodiversity and human societies (e.g., landscape connectivity, barrier against pests and invasions, ecosystem services). Roadless and low-traffic areas, with a lower level of anthropogenic disturbances, are of special relevance in Europe because of their rarity and, in the context of climate change, because of their contribution to higher resilience and buffering capacity within landscape ecosystems. An analysis of European legal instruments illustrates that, although most laws aimed at protecting targets which are inherent to fragmentation, like connectivity, ecosystem processes or integrity, roadless areas are widely neglected as a legal target. A case study in Germany underlines this finding. Although the Natura 2000 network covers a significant proportion of the country (16%), Natura 2000 sites are highly fragmented and most low-traffic areas (75%) lie unprotected outside this network. This proportion is even higher for the old Federal States (western Germany), where only 20% of the low-traffic areas are protected. We propose that the few remaining roadless and low-traffic areas in Europe should be an important focus of conservation efforts; they should be urgently inventoried, included more explicitly in the law and accounted for in transport and urban planning. Considering them as complementary conservation targets would represent a concrete step towards the strengthening and adaptation of the Natura 2000 network to climate change.     

Transboundary marine spatial planning: a reflexive marine governance experiment?

Because seas and coastlines are shared between states, the formulation and implementation of marine spatial planning (MSP) should be transboundary by nature. The main argument of this paper is that MSP should be organized as a transboundary policy-making process, but this is hampered by the conceptual and institutional fragmentation MSP is facing. Based on an analysis of four transboundary planning processes in different European seas, the paper gives insight into the possibilities to develop and implement transboundary marine spatial planning (TMSP). To overcome the conceptual and institutional challenges, TMSP should be developed as a reflexive governance arrangement, in which the actors involved are able to change the rules of the game and to challenge the existing (national-oriented) MSP discourses. The paper develops four forms of reflexivity (unreflectiveness; performative reflectiveness; structural reflectiveness; and reflexivity) to assess TMSP processes and to formulate conditions which are crucial to develop TMSP as a reflexive marine governance arrangement.     

Assessing the role of economic actors in the production of private and public goods in three EU agricultural landscapes

The study analyses the contribution of relevant economic actors to the provision of private and public goods in agricultural landscapes. A method consisting of a multi-sectoral perspective and an integrated approach based on the analytic network process (ANP) and the use of selected local stakeholders is applied. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated in three European case studies in Austria, Italy and Spain. The results show that agriculture and tourism are the sectors that contribute the most and the least, respectively, to the provision of goods and services in agricultural landscapes. Moreover, the results underscore that policy instruments towards such provision need to be targeted differently in different areas and must take into account the different roles of the local actors involved.     

Opening up the “local” to analysis: exploring the spatiality of UK urban decentralised energy initiatives

Debates surrounding the decarbonisation of energy systems in developed societies have been overlaid with controversy about the merits of decentralised or “community” energy. These are ambiguous concepts, implicating energy generation or demand reduction activities carried out in buildings or across neighbourhood or urban areas, as well as social and political aspects such as trust and communitarian relations amongst participating actors. This research was based on the criticism that most existing advocacy for, and research into decentralised energy (DE) has neglected the spatiality of such initiatives. In particular, the concept of “local” has been largely presumed to be self-evident and unproblematic. Drawing on the analysis of primary and secondary data from nine UK case studies, this study reveals the different degrees to which DE initiatives are locally embedded, dependent upon the sector of the instigating actors. Findings also reveal the multi-dimensionality of discourses of DE, going beyond purely physical or technical aspects to encompass social, spatial and political issues that are intertwined in complex patterns. In particular, it reveals how aspirations to “roll out” successful DE initiatives, consistent with broader policy goals for carbon reduction, are challenged by discourses of local uniqueness and “bottom-up” engagement. Future research is required to investigate the generalisability of the patterns observed.