Analysis of stakeholders' involvement in the implementation of the Natura 2000 network in Slovakia

Abstract

Natura 2000 is a network of protected areas aiming at ensure the protection of European habitats and species biodiversity. The national governments of European Union member countries have delegated the responsibility to manage the Natura 2000 sites at sub-national/regional level. The responsible for the Natura 2000 sites management must organise stakeholders' involvement in the decision-making process to balance the objectives of nature conservation with the social and economic interests. The aim of this paper is to investigate public participation process in the implementation of Nature 2000 network in Slovakia. After a stakeholder analysis, 16 stakeholders participated in the survey. The data were collected through the administration of face-to-face questionnaire. The stakeholders' involvement was assessed considering: obstacles and opportunities of Natura 2000 for human activities and level of participation. The results show that Natura 2000 network is considered an opportunity for human activities by the stakeholders because it could be an economic support for the private owners, a marketing tool to promote eco-tourism, and an instrument to improve the ecosystem services. Conversely, some stakeholders consider Natura 2000 network an obstacle due to the potential restrictions for agricultural and forestry activities.Concerning the participatory process, the results point out that public actors have been involved through the co-decision, while the other categories of stakeholders have been involved at different levels (collaboration or information), demonstrating in any case the willingness to follow a participative approach. According to the surveyed stakeholders, the short time of implementation of the Habitats Directive after the accession of Slovakia to the EU precluded from more thoughtful communication and participation strategies.