Barbara Mihók

Conservation Focus on Europe: Major Conservation Policy Issues That Need to Be Informed by Conservation Science

Europe is one of the worlds most densely populated continents and has a long history of human-dominated land- and seascapes. Europe is also at the forefront of developing and implementing multinational conservation efforts. In this contribution, we describe some top policy issues in Europe that need to be informed by high-quality conservation science. These include evaluation of the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network of protected sites, implications of rapid economic and subsequent land-use change in Central and Eastern Europe, conservation of marine biodiversity and sustainability of fisheries, the effect of climate change on movement of species in highly fragmented landscapes, and attempts to assess the economic value of ecosystem services and biodiversity. Broad policy issues such as those identified are not easily amenable to scientific experiment. A key challenge at the science-policy interface is to identify the research questions underlying these problem areas so that conservation science can provide evidence to underpin future policy development.

Roadless and low-traffic areas as conservation targets in Europe.

With increasing road encroachment, habitat fragmentation by transport infrastructures has been a serious threat for European biodiversity. Areas with no roads or little traffic (“roadless and low-traffic areas”) represent relatively undisturbed natural habitats and functioning ecosystems. They provide many benefits for biodiversity and human societies (e.g., landscape connectivity, barrier against pests and invasions, ecosystem services). Roadless and low-traffic areas, with a lower level of anthropogenic disturbances, are of special relevance in Europe because of their rarity and, in the context of climate change, because of their contribution to higher resilience and buffering capacity within landscape ecosystems. An analysis of European legal instruments illustrates that, although most laws aimed at protecting targets which are inherent to fragmentation, like connectivity, ecosystem processes or integrity, roadless areas are widely neglected as a legal target. A case study in Germany underlines this finding. Although the Natura 2000 network covers a significant proportion of the country (16%), Natura 2000 sites are highly fragmented and most low-traffic areas (75%) lie unprotected outside this network. This proportion is even higher for the old Federal States (western Germany), where only 20% of the low-traffic areas are protected. We propose that the few remaining roadless and low-traffic areas in Europe should be an important focus of conservation efforts; they should be urgently inventoried, included more explicitly in the law and accounted for in transport and urban planning. Considering them as complementary conservation targets would represent a concrete step towards the strengthening and adaptation of the Natura 2000 network to climate change.

The challenge of implementing the European network of protected areas Natura 2000.

Established under the European Union (EU) Birds and Habitats Directives, Natura 2000 is one of the largest international networks of protected areas. With the spatial designation of sites by the EU member states almost finalized, the biggest challenge still lying ahead is the appropriate management of the sites. To evaluate the cross-scale functioning of Natura 2000 implementation, we analyzed 242 questionnaires completed by conservation scientists involved in the implementation of Natura 2000 in 24 EU member states. Respondents identified 7 key drivers of the quality of Natura 2000 implementation. Ordered in decreasing evaluation score, these drivers included: network design, use of external resources, legal frame, scientific input, procedural frame, social input, and national or local policy. Overall, conservation scientists were moderately satisfied with the implementation of Natura 2000. Tree modeling revealed that poor application of results of environmental impact assessments (EIA) was considered a major constraint. The main strengths of the network included the substantial increase of scientific knowledge of the sites, the contribution of nongovernmental organizations, the adequate network design in terms of area and representativeness, and the adequacy of the EU legal frame. The main weaknesses of Natura 2000 were the lack of political will from local and national governments toward effective implementation; the negative attitude of local stakeholders; the lack of background knowledge of local stakeholders, which prevented well-informed policy decisions; and the understaffing of Natura 2000 management authorities. Top suggestions to improve Natura 2000 implementation were increase public awareness, provide environmental education to local communities, involve high-quality conservation experts, strengthen quality control of EIA studies, and establish a specific Natura 2000 fund.

KÖRNYEZETI JÖVŐKUTATÁS: MAGYARORSZÁG 2050

Az Okologia Kutatokozpont Tanulmanyai a kutatokozpontban folyo tudomanyos kutatasokba enged betekintest kutatoknak, gyakorlati szakembereknek, donteshozoknak es a szeles olvasokozonsegnek. E sorozat kereteben magyar nyelvű osszefoglalo tanulmanyokat jelentetunk meg a kutatokozpont szakemberei altal koordinalt tudomanyos kutatasokrol, amelyek az okologia valtozatos szakteruleteit erintik, beleertve az interdiszciplinarisan kapcsolodo tudomanyteruleteket is. A magyarorszagi termeszeti es kornyezeti allapotanak valtozasa szamos kihivast tartogat szamunkra a kovetkező evtizedekben. A jovő lehetseges valtozasainak felterkepezese segit abban, hogy hatekonyabban fel tudjunk keszulni az előttunk allo kihivasokra celzott kutatasok inditasaval. E cel erdekeben indult a „Kornyezeti jovőkutatas: Magyarorszag 2050” cimű program 2016-ban, melynek zaro tanulmanyat tartja kezeben az olvaso. Munkank fő celkitűzese, hogy a jovőbeli lehetősegek es veszelyek feltarasaval javaslatot tegyunk olyan kutatasi iranyokra, temakorokre, amelyek hatekonyan es celzottan segithetik a termeszetmegőrzest a kovetkező evtizedekben. A jovőkutatasi folyamatban multidiszciplinaris kutatocsoportunk a Horizon Scanning, azaz a jovőfurkesző eljarast alkalmazta. Az eljaras a jovőkutatas egyik formajanak, az előretekintesnek az első fazisa, amely a lehetseges jovők tartomanyanak felterkepezesere iranyul. A szakirodalmi feltaras utan szakertők bevonasaval egy otletborzet, majd egy kollektiv informaciorendszerező es -ertekelő workshopot tartottunk. A reszveteli folyamat eredmenyekent kapott jovőallitasokhoz kapcsolodoan fogalmazodtak meg azok az okologiai kerdeskoroket kozeppontba allito komplex problemak, amelyek a 2050-es jovő alakulasa/alakitasa szempontjabol potencialisan fontos kutatasi iranyokat hatarozhatnak meg Magyarorszag szamara.

Confronting espoused theories with theories-in-use: Challenges of participatory action research with marginalized communities in contributing to social change and theory building:

This article reflects on a participatory action research process in partnership with segregated Roma communities in Hungary. It will focus on the “non-positivist good theory”-building capacity of p...

Részvételi akciókutatással a társadalmi kirekesztés ellen: egy szegedi példa tanulságai

Large international surveys and regional and national (Hungarian) examinations all show that the vast majority of the European and Hungarian Roma population belongs to the most disadvantaged groups of society. Furthermore, social disadvantages and spatial segregation are often connected. Our paper is based on a case study carried out in Szeged (Hungary) in relation to the problems mentioned. In Szeged, university researchers and social activists have been working together with local Roma leaders and Roma families living in segregated areas (segregates) from the beginning of 2011 within the framework of participatory action research. As a participatory action research-type research process our cooperation has two strongly interconnected goals. First, we aim to generate valuable knowledge about the social integration of Roma. Second, we aim to contribute to local social integration processes by testing our knowledge in practice through actions in the field. Based on our ongoing work, we gained valuable research experience regarding local social segregation and integration and its spatial aspects, and the role of scientific research and researchers in this area. In our study we give an overview of these experiences. Besides introducing some general questions and (ethical) dilemmas regarding social science research dealing with social segregation/integration, we examine how social and spatial integration are interconnected and the requirements social scientists have to meet if they deal with social integration issues within the framework of participatory action research. Our conclusions are that participatory action research sets new challenges for social researchers – because of its action component, for example – and participatory action research dealing with local social integration of the Roma might cause “objective”, “outsider” or “independent” researchers turning into local political actors. However, this “turn” does not necessarily mean a real change in the role of experts, but it rather means that interests and values necessarily appearing behind scientific research are made explicit in the process of participatory action research.