Oisterwijk (the Netherlands), 1 and 2 October 2008

Around 70 representatives from 18 European countries gathered in Oisterwijk (the Netherlands) to discuss the planning and implementation of ecological networks in Europe. The workshop, organised by ECNC in cooperation with Alterra, sought to take stock of recent advances in the research, planning and implementation of ecological networks and to formulate clear recommendations to the relevant policy makers.

The event was organized to present and discuss the preliminary results of two international ecological networks projects financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture Nature and Food Quality (ANF), which address the links between spatial planning and ecological networks and the practical implementation of ecological networks through stakeholder involvement. These results were officially presented to Mr Peter Bos, representing the Ministry of ANF and to Mr Robert Flies, the representative of the European Commission DG Environment, who said to be looking forward to receiving the concrete recommendations emanating from the workshop on how to make the better connectivity between nature areas (including Natura 2000 sites) happen.

The preliminary results of the two projects presented during the plenary session were discussed during breakout sessions, which focused on finding innovative ideas to solve the planning and implementation bottlenecks identified so far.

The conclusions and recommendations included: developing an appealing and challenging European vision on ecological networks, linking to spatial planning frameworks and taking into account the dynamics of society and land use; giving a legally binding status to ecological networks at all geographical levels; ensuring the coherence between the planning and the establishment of ecological networks at all those levels (while taking into account current decentralizations processes); adopting a stakeholder approach based on situation analysis and cultural settings and finally, to create an ecological networks knowledge base with inspiring best practice cases including wider countryside applications.

The main findings and recommendations of the workshops will be widely disseminated and fed into existing European processes addressing the planning and implementation of ecological networks, starting with the next Meeting of the Expert Committee of the Pan-European Ecological Network, on 16 and 17 October in Strasbourg (France), followed by the International Conference on Biodiversity and Agriculture, organised on 4 November in Montpellier (France) under the auspices of the French EU Presidency.

For additional information please contact:
Dr Lawrence Jones-Walters, Senior Programme Manager joneswalters@ecnc.org or Ms Aysegul Cil, Programme Manager, cil@ecnc.org


Photo 1: Mr Robert Flies, Senior Advisor, DG Environment of the European Commission, receiving a copy of the SPEN and KEN project portfolios from ECNC’s Executive Director Mr Rob Wolters.

Photo 2: The workshop themes were discussed in greater detail during the breakout sessions.

(Photos: ECNC)