Wild Europe Initiative

EUROPARC members' vital role as guardians of Europe's natural habitats

Within its pan-European membership EUROPARC has many national park core zones and experts on wilderness, untouched areas and areas under natural ecosystem dynamics. In addition to the intrinsic value of wilderness as natural habitats and for biodiversity, these areas also offer wider environmental, social, economic and cultural benefits. The protection of wilderness areas, together with the promotion of their value, is therefore vital for our current and future well-being.

EUROPARC has been working with the Wild Europe Initiative, a partnership of several nature conservation organisations, including IUCN, IUCN-WCPA, WWF, Birdlife International and PAN Parks, with a strong interest in wild lands or nearly wild areas, to promote the value of wilderness.

Back in 2007 EUROPARC hosted an initial round table meeting on the subject of "Wilderness in the European Union" in Ceský Krumlov, which brought together key European experts to examine the concept of wilderness in the European Union. Following on from the round table, EUROPARC and PAN Parks joined forces with other organisations in the Wild Europe Initiative in the publication of a Resolution on Wilderness Areas. The text of the resolution can be found below.

Addressed to the European Commission and the EU member states, the resolution emphasised the importance of protecting Europe’s last remaining wilderness areas, many of which are under threat. More than 100 organisations signed the resolution, including Countdown 2010, Eurosite, IUCN Europe, WWF and WCPA, as well as more than 30 EUROPARC members, including the EUROPARC Sections in Germany and the Czech Republic. This generated significant momentum on the issue and put it very much on the agenda.

Protected area experts tackle issue of wilderness and Natura 2000

More than 50 protected area experts from 12 European countries met in Srni, Czech Republic, at the end of January 2009 to take part in an international colloquium on ‘The appropriateness of non-intervention management for protected areas and Natura 2000 sites’. The event which was co-hosted by EUROPARC members Šumava National Park and Bavarian Forest National Park provided delegates with a real opportunity to connect the practice of nature conservation in protected areas with questions of European Union nature policy.

Participants examined the implementation of the wilderness concept in Europe, before looking – from a scientific perspective - at wilderness as a concept and scene of dynamics. On the second day delegates heard presentations from Germany, the Czech Republic and Finland on how those countries are applying the non-intervention principle in the context of Natura 2000. Several case studies – from Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Slovakia – then provided further insight into how protected areas with Natura 2000 sites are pursuing non-intervention management.

The protected area managers and researchers gathered came to several conclusions. These included the view that there are numerous benefits to a wilderness approach, not just for reasons of ecology, but also on social and economic grounds. It was also felt generally that there is no contradiction between Natura 2000, biodiversity conservation and non-intervention management, since Natura 2000 management and biodiversity conservation also include the protection of natural processes. However there might be a dilemma between species conservation and wilderness concept at particular sites, especially secondary habitats or small and fragmented areas. Furthermore it was agreed that there is a need to have an expert task group to develop basic principles and criteria for the implementation of the wilderness concept in Europe.

A full report of the colloquium is available on request.

Czech EU Presidency conference elaborates message on wilderness

Some 250 people from across Europe attended the Czech EU Presidency conference on wilderness and large natural habitat areas in Prague on 27 and 28 May 2009. Around 40 delegates were present representing EUROPARC member organizations. On the first day, which saw a key note speech from former Czech President, Vaclav Havel, the conference considered the extent of wilderness in Europe, how a wilderness approach to nature management could be applied in Europe and how partnerships could be developed to aid protection of wilderness. The second day was devoted primarily to restoration issues and opportunities for re-wilding in Europe.

By the end of the conference participants had put together a “Message from Prague” including recommendations to the European Commission, EU Member States and other stakeholders to work on the areas of policy development, awareness building, information provision and supporting capacity. The full text of the Message from Prague can be accessed here.

World Wilderness congress Wild 9 in Mexico

At the World Wilderness Congress held in November 2009 in Merida, Mexico, delegates from across the globe, put together the Mensaje de Merida, an international call to action with specific policy guidelines to integrate wilderness and biodiversity conservation into global climate change strategy. The Message from Merida can be downloaded below.

Current Work

Attention is now focused on implementing the recommendations of the Message from Prague. Priorities are currently being set together with our partners in the Wild Europe Initiative.

For further details on this field of work please contact Richard Blackman on r.blackman@europarc.org.

Last updated December 2009