2005 - Communicating the Pan-European Ecological Network - ECNC

considered as a voluntary contribution to ecological networks from the farming community.One respondent viewpoint was that the government should do a cost benefit analysis of the ecologicalnetwork process to avoid money being ‘wasted’ on further bureaucracy.Policy aspectsThe UK implements the Natura 2000 Network, in order to comply with the EU Habitats Directive throughthe legislation, “The Conservation (Habitats, & c.) Regulation 1994.” On a practical level it is implementedthrough Government’s compulsory purchase of land or through the arrangement of management agreementswith landowners. Furthermore the “Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000”, applicable to Englandand Wales only, protects nationally designated sites such as SSSIs – Sites of Special Scientific Interestand AONBs – Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whilst UK policymakers and other stakeholders involvedin policymaking and nature research are well aware of the concept of ecological networks as definedin the PEEN action plan, there is no policy or legislation that requires implementation of such a concept atthis present time. The UK also provides plans for species and habitats through the UK BiodiversityStrategy policy. This strategy aims to implement the requirements of the Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD). This involves national and local Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) for habitats and species.The UK Biodiversity Strategy and the UK Biodiversity Action Plans (UKBAPs), described above are seenas a driver for a national ecological network. A recent review of the UK BAPs has provided evidence thattraditional approaches to conservation, that is conserving species in specific protected areas, will not conservespecies that are dispersed, these species were referred to by several respondents as ‘landscapescale species’ and fit into the UK’s ‘landscape scale approach’ to ecological networks. UKBAPs were seenas a driver in respect of enabling organisations to join together to achieve policy goals. The UK BiodiversityStrategy is also considered a driver for ecological networks in respect of communication and involvementof stakeholders. The Strategy has taken a wider involvement approach including the commercial sector,this has enabled data on the benefits of the UK Biodiversity Strategy from an economic point of view. TheUK BAP is coordinated centrally, at the national level, by the Department of Environment, Food and RuralAffairs (DEFRA). Action Plans are managed by Government Agencies and NGOs, involving a wide rangeof stakeholders.The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is also seen as a driver for a national ecological network. It hassimilar principles as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in respect of the requirement for catchmentscale (or in the CBD landscape scale) approaches to biodiversity protection. Several respondentsacknowledged the potential of the WFD, as it is a Directive that requires catchment scale managementand public participation and has a stronger legal power being a Directive. The philosophy of the WFD isto take a much more holistic approach to environmental management. However on the practical level thereis scepticism that those government agencies implementing the WFD will not embrace this concept, includinghow it can be connected to other concepts, such as ecological networks. It is thought by some respondentsthat the government will look for the easiest ways to implement the WFD to ensure that it iseconomic, and to enable delivery within the Directive’s timelines to ensure compliance. This could meannot taking a wide interpretation, not using the potential of participation and not ensuring integration of sectorsand policies, such as ecological networks, as these activities can be time consuming and expensive.Ensuring minimum compliance with the Directive may be seen as the cheaper and easiest option.Climate change policy is seen as a fundamental driver in helping shift the thinking in government agenciesabout biodiversity and the need for a policy to manage species protection with future climate changes.Modelling can be used to explain the need for species dispersal and mobility, ecological networks can bea tool to achieve this. As one respondent commented, “…. There is no point creating an ecological networkthat does not think about climate change”.The EU Common Agricultural Policy is also seen as an opportunity for ecological networks in respect ofthe newly incorporated environmental aims to reduce land use intensity and to target activities that buffer38