2005 - Communicating the Pan-European Ecological Network - ECNC

Opportunities or challenges for ecological networks in GermanyDuring the interviews the interviewees specifically identified the following issues as opportunities or challengesfor ecological networks in Germany.● TransportPressure exists in Germany for developing rivers into channels for larger ships, which would be detrimentalto nature conservation. There is also the issue of road construction. Germany is the main country ofEuropean traffic access, it is expected that there will be a 50% increase in large lorry travel, thereforemotorway construction is a very prominent issue in German politics. Whilst for new road construction therewill be possibilities to ameliorate the construction through the use of nature network tunnels and bridges,on existing motorways, there is thought to be little prospect for the construction of such nature protectioninfrastructure.● Political willDue to the history of the implementation of the Natura 2000 process, which caused confrontation and anegative image of nature conservation in Germany, there is thought to be less of a political will to establishecological networks.● Cross border cooperationCross border cooperation between Länder internally and between other countries externally can be difficultdue to differences in institutional process structure or differences in levels of political will or interest inthe issue. However Germany appears committed to initiating cross border cooperation for ecological networks.● Lack of resource or instruments availableResource available for implementation of ecological networks varies between Länder. Some do not havethe money to spend on the ecological network concept, there may also be a State that has restrictions onthe purchasing of land and therefore no instruments available for it to implement the network even if thereis the political will to do so.● Decentralized implementationThis was seen by some respondents to hinder the implementation process of ecological networks as itwas seen to be difficult to coordinate the States at the central level and ensure a balanced level of implementationbetween States.ConclusionThe German national ecological network follows the wider concept as defined by PEEN and is providedfor through a national law on conservation. However there is a degree of flexibility as to how stringent thislaw is applied. The actual implementation is decentralized at the federal state (Länder) level. The fact thata law has been established and details of activities on ecological networks reflects a motivation for theinternal implementation of the national ecological network as well as an external motivation to provide fora PEEN through cooperation across borders. There was also a common agreement that the national ecologicalnetwork afforded a much greater protection than that provided by the EU Natura 2000 Network.The advantages of decentralized implementation are shown in the ability to involve local stakeholders byimplementation at this more localised level. However the disadvantages of lack of control and variation instandards of implementation are reflected. It was clear that if there is no resource or political will at thefederal level then the standard of implementation would be low. Whilst awareness and involvement of stakeholderassociations at the national level appeared quite high, it was stated that awareness of local stakeholderswas very much dependent on the level of implementation in the individual Länder regions.Another interesting point to note about decentralised implementation was the perception that understandingat the regional level of an ecological network could often mean less awareness as to how the conceptcontributed to an overall national ecological network.20