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BLOCK
02 THE ANALYSIS
The journalists´ experience
Opportunities for
communicating the
Natura 2000 Network
on television
Carolina Rueda
Instinto Animal programme, Telemadrid TV station
Journalist specialized in environmental matters with 25 years of
experience in radio, television and magazines. Particularly interested in
biodiversity and conservation areas. She is a contributor to the www.
rednatura2000.info website.
When it comes to communicating the Natura 2000 Network we encounter
several strengths and weaknesses. Among its strengths are its size
and variety, that offer many possibilities for attractive communication.
Nearly 30 per cent of the Spanish territory is full of things to talk about,
with an overwhelming diversity and richness. Moreover, we have the
advantage that the Network connects nature and man. We know that
the sites that are within the network have been included because they
are an example of good practices and prove that the human presence is
compatible with the conservation of biodiversity.
Oppositely, we have to deal with some of its weaknesses. In the first place,
the complexity of the concept. Part of the problem is that the Natura
2000 Network is actually a technical concept relatively complex, and also
very specific, that stems from two European directives: the Birds Directive
and the Habitats Directive. There is a lot of confusion in this respect,
even in scientific circles: some people get it mixed up with the IUCN list
of endangered species, or the Red Book of endangered species. So, if
this happens to them, how would it not happen to the common citizen?
On top of that there is another obvious weakness: the lack of signage
on the sites. The National and Natural Parks have signs marking them
and directing towards them and that is how citizens recognize their geographical
boundaries. They know where they are. That is not the case
with the Natura 2000 Network and the result is that it takes a different
shape in the mind of each one. Urban audiences tend to identify it with
the different traditional protection statuses (parks) and in the rural world
there is more than one who doesn´t even know that he lives inside the
Natura 2000 Network.
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Natura 2000 Network. Handbook for journalists