Co-financed by the European Union M.Sc. Programme “Management of Protected Areas” Best practice guidelines for management planning in NATURA 2000 Author: Mgr. Ján Černecký Supervisor: Joanna Borg B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc. Carried out at: Department of Economics University of Klagenfurt Universitaetsstrasse 65-67 9020 Klagenfurt Ph +43 (0) 463/ 27 00 4192 e-mail: [email protected] Klagenfurt, May 2011 Citation: J. CERNECKY: BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT PLANNING IN NATURA 2000, KLAGENFURT, 2011, P. 94 MGR . JÁN Č ERNECKÝ DECLARATION OF HONOUR I herewith declare that I am the sole author of the current master thesis according to art. 51 par. 2 no. 8 and art. 51 par. 2 no. 13 Universitätsgesetz 2002 (Austrian University Law) and that I have conducted all works connected with the master thesis on my own. Furthermore, I declare that I only used those resources that are referenced in the work. All formulations and concepts taken from printed, verbal or online sources – be they word-for-word quotations or corresponding in their meaning – are quoted according to the rules of good scientific conduct and are indicated by footnotes, in the text or other forms of detailed references. Support during the work including significant supervision is indicated accordingly. The master thesis has not been presented to any other examination authority. The work has been submitted in printed and electronic form. I herewith confirm that the electronic form is completely congruent with the printed version. I am aware of legal consequences of a false declaration of honor. Klagenfurt, 10 May 2011 Signature: PAGE 2 MGR . JÁN Č ERNECKÝ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing the thesis is very interesting part for every person in his/her life and it is important life step for the future personal progress. There are many people directly or indirectly involved in the process of preparation and writing the thesis and it is important to thank them. I would like to thank especially to my supervisor MSc. Joanna Borg for helping me to complete this thesis and make some good progress in it, to provide me with best ideas and comments. Understanding and accepting new approaches, especially in nature conservancy is very difficult and long process and I would like to thank; Michael Jungmeier, Michael Getzner and all others who prepared and are actually running the Management of protected areas master and provided opportunity with unique experience and lot of knowledge. I would like to thank also WWF for their support in my studies and State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic for allowing me to participate on all courses. IT tool for management measures and online survey would not be finished without help of my colleagues and friends Ján Snopko and Stanislav Motyčka, therefore I would like to thank them as well. Filling up surveys and questionnaires was important for my results and I would like to thank to the national experts for filling up online survey and for the precious time dedicated to fill it. My special thanks goes to my little daughter Sofia and my wife Ľudmila for their understanding and emotional support in hard times where I tried to fulfill all stressful deadlines and could not dedicate much time to them. PAGE 3 MGR . JÁN Č ERNECKÝ Table of Contents Declaration of Honour .............................................................................2 Acknowledgements .................................................................................3 1 Summary ...........................................................................................6 2 Introduction ......................................................................................7 2.1 NATURA 2000 and actual situation in management planning........................... 7 2.1.1 Actual international legislation support for NATURA 2000 management planning .................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 NATURA 2000.................................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Actual situation in NATURA 2000 ........................................................ 10 2.1.4 Management planning....................................................................... 14 3 Objectives and purpose ................................................................... 23 4 Methods........................................................................................... 24 4.1 Literature overview and survey methodology.............................................. 24 4.2 IT tool for management measures methodology ......................................... 26 4.3 Guidelines methodology .......................................................................... 26 5 Results............................................................................................. 27 5.1 Management planning in NATURA 2000 in selected Member States................ 27 5.1.1 Management planning in Germany...................................................... 27 5.1.2 Management planning in Poland ......................................................... 28 5.1.3 Management planning in UK (Wales)................................................... 31 5.1.4 Management planning in Hungary....................................................... 32 5.1.5 Management planning in Denmark...................................................... 33 5.1.6 Management planning in Romania ...................................................... 34 5.1.7 Management planning in Slovakia....................................................... 36 5.1.8 Management planning in Netherlands.................................................. 38 5.1.9 Management planning in Cyprus......................................................... 39 5.1.10 Management planning in Austria (Burgenland)................................... 40 5.1.11 Analysis of survey results ............................................................... 41 5.2 Guidelines ............................................................................................. 54 5.2.1 Planning phase ................................................................................ 54 5.2.2 Budget ........................................................................................... 57 5.2.3 Data collection and basic evaluation.................................................... 59 5.2.4 Stakeholder involvement................................................................... 64 5.2.5 Strategic plan and management objectives .......................................... 67 5.2.6 Management measures ..................................................................... 69 5.2.7 Socio – economic benefits ................................................................. 71 5.2.8 Implementation of the plan................................................................ 74 5.2.9 Monitoring....................................................................................... 74 5.2.10 Management effectiveness.............................................................. 77 6 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 81 6.1 Overall conclusion .................................................................................. 81 6.2 In depth discussion of the impact of results................................................ 84 6.3 Limitation of the study ............................................................................ 85 PAGE 4 MGR . JÁN Č ERNECKÝ 7 References....................................................................................... 87 7.1 Literature.............................................................................................. 87 7.2 Internet Resources ................................................................................. 89 List of Figures ....................................................................................... 91 List of Tables......................................................................................... 92 List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ...................................................... 93 Appendix ............................................................................................... 94 PAGE 5 MGR . JÁN Č ERNECKÝ 1 SUMMARY Management planning in NATURA 2000 sites is a very complex issue. It is especially relevant at this point in time because the process of designation in most of the Member States is finishing and proper management of the sites needs to be established. This thesis aims to assess the actual situation in management planning for NATURA 2000 sites and propose the best practice guidelines through the execution of: 1. An analysis of the actual situation in NATURA 2000 and management planning in Europe – theoretical overview based on literature overview, online sources and expert opinion 2. A more in-depth analysis of the situation with regards to management planning for NATURA 2000 sites in selected Member States (MS) – practical results and an overview at the national level, based especially on an online survey completed by the national experts for NATURA 2000 issues in selected Member States. The analysis is based on the responses of 10 Member States, namely the Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Romania and UK. 3. A proposal of guidelines for management planning in NATURA 2000 sites, based on best-practice observed from the analysis of the online survey responses, interviews with national NATURA 2000 experts, the literature