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Despite all that, there is no shortage of brave ones who give it a try,
well aware of the opportunity that lies in being one of the firsts to focus
in a specialized way on the Natura 2000 Network and also of the need
to inform about what happens in 27 per cent of the Spanish territory,
with a view to steer clear of myths, rumour and social prejudices that
stem from the lack of knowledge. This is the case with the website www.
rednatura2000.info
But neither is easy for the non-specialized press to publish news related
to the Natura 2000 Network. Its name has been linked more often to
possible conflicts of interest than to development opportunities. So, on
the few occassions the Natura 2000 Network made it to the headlines in
national media, this was due to problems. That furthers the doubts and
fears that certain social sectors have about it.
To make matters worse, for a long time some politicians have used the
Natura 2000 Network as a shield when a certain social sector has seen
its interests compromised. The sentence “it is an obligation imposed by
the European Union, we can do nothing about it” has been repeated
with undecent frequency on the part of those who should be fostering
its development instead. With such an attitude, we cannot expect much
enthusiam for the Natura 2000 Network among the population...
So we have a nature conservation proposal that comes from the political
and scientific elites and a population that none of those has taken
the trouble to keep correctly and currently informed of what the network
was, how it was going to affect them, which were the potential benefits,
which changes they could expect in their daily tasks and the different
interpretations made of it.
Natura 2000 Network. Handbook for journalists 41