The effectiveness of all 16 German National Parks was reassessed. The results are now available and they show a positive trend.

Management Effectiveness Assessment in German National Parks

During the period 2022 – 2024, an external evaluation committee was appointed to assess the Management Effectiveness of all 16 German National Parks. This is the second assessment, after an initial evaluation (2009 – 2012). As part of an interim survey (2015 – 2018), the extent to which the recommendations from the initial evaluation had already been implemented — or at least had begun to be implemented — was examined.

Site Visit in National Park Jasmund

The assessment is timely: Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) is a cornerstone in all leading biodiversity strategies, like the EU Biodiversity Strategy or the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. PAME assessments help identify strengths and weaknesses in Protected Area Management, ensuring nature managers can respond to deliver the best results for biodiversity.

In Germany, the assessment follows the Quality Criteria and Standards for German National Parks. It consists of a self-assessment by the park administration, and on-site visits and interviews with the park administration and the relevant state ministry or ministries by the external evaluation committee. The involvement of relevant stakeholders is key and is intended to strengthen acceptance of and appreciation for the National Parks. The external advisors also surveyed various stakeholders to obtain a broad picture of the current situation in the National Parks. On this basis, the committee prepared a detailed evaluation report for each national park, which are primarily published on their websites.

The evaluation reports

A Promising Trend, But Growing Pressures

The evaluation shows that, overall, Germany’s National Parks have developed positively since the first evaluation. Particularly noteworthy are improvements in the expansion of natural dynamic zones. As a result, numerous National Parks have come significantly closer to the central goal of leaving at least 75 percent of their area to natural dynamics.

Nevertheless, challenges remain. In several National Parks, for example, unfavorable land configurations, third-party usage rights, excessive visitor pressure, or fragmenting roads and utility services hinder the full implementation of this goal. Management measures — such as those aimed at reducing wildlife populations — also still take place in some cases within the natural dynamic zones.

Budget Cuts Threaten Wins For Biodiversity

The financial and human resources available to National Parks, as well as the dedication and qualifications of the staff in the National Park administrations, are crucial to their success. These last two points in particular stand out very positively in all National Parks; in addition, many volunteers are actively involved, including in Protected Area monitoring, visitor assistance in the field, and practical species and habitat conservation. Nevertheless, all National Park administrations face at least some staffing shortages, for example in area control, the ranger service, research and monitoring, or environmental education. This underlines that adequate financial resources are needed to ensure National Parks are delivering on their many goals and objectives.

LIFE PAME-Europe

The project was managed by the German Section of the EUROPARC Federation, Nationale Naturlandschaften e. V. (NNL e.V). They served as a mediator between the interests of the federal government and the states, while also acting as a liaison between the scientific community and administrative practices in the National Parks.

NNL e.V. is also a partner in the EUROPARC-led LIFE PAME-Europe project. Their experiences are feeding directly into the PAME-Europe Framework developed within the project, to assess management effectiveness in Protected Areas. The aim of the project is to produce a Framework that can be applied throughout Europe. The project is currently in its piloting phase, with 47 Protected Areas applying the Framework and providing extensive feedback on its use.

Learn More

A summary of these findings across all the German National Parks is provided in the brochure “Management Quality of German National Parks – Results of the Second Evaluation.”, discover it here:

To the summary

For decades, the Birds and Habitats Directives have protected nature and biodiversity in the European Union. Now, they are under scrutiny. Keep on reading to understand why this matters, and what you can do to help!

The Birds and Habitats Directives: A Cornerstone of EU Nature Conservation Policy

Adopted in 1979 and amended in 2009 (Birds Directive) and 1992 (Habitats Directive), these so-called ‘EU Nature Directives’ have a long and successful track record of protecting Europe’s most vulnerable and valuable species and habitats. They led to the establishment of the Natura 2000 network – the largest coordinated network of Protected Areas in the world.

Natura 2000 Area in Nationalpark Neusiedler See – Seewinkel

For decades these Directives have embodied the EU’s commitment to nature protection and preservation of biodiversity, as the foundation of life and human well-being. They have also become an integral part of Protected Area management across EU Member States.

Now, the Directives are undergoing a ‘Stress Test’ to assess whether they “remain fit to achieve their objectives in a cost-efficient way, including by identifying opportunities to reduce unnecessary administrative burden”.

Nature As An ‘Administrative Burden’?

The Stress Test forms part of the European Commission’s broader simplification agenda, which aims to strengthen EU competitiveness. The exercise seeks to identify opportunities to reduce “disproportionate administrative burden” while maintaining the Directives’ ambition and high standards of nature protection. It also aims to identify existing good practices and solutions.

As the largest network of Protected Area professionals in Europe, EUROPARC’s message is clear: The EU Nature Directives are the cornerstone for the work of our members in the European Union. Together with the EU Nature Restoration Regulation they are the most important tool for nature conservation and restoration in Natura 2000 sites. For this reason, they are also indispensable tools for Natura 2000 site managers and practitioners.

The EU Birds and Habitats Directives are simply crucial tools for achieving our European and international biodiversity commitments, not an ‘administrative burden’.

Says EUROPARC Director Alberto Arroyo Schnell.

The Nature Directives are the way for the EU Member States and the European Union to achieve the international biodiversity targets that have been mutually agreed. These commitments have been made “To take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss to put nature on a path to recovery for the benefit of people and planet”, as it is stated in the mission of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The EU Member States and the European Union have all committed themselves to achieve these goals.

These Directives have driven nature protection through area-based conservation across EU Member States. It is highly unlikely that conservation efforts on this scale would have taken place without them. 

Nature Is Not a Luxury – It Is a Necessity

The Directives play a vital role in protecting biodiversity and helping to halt its decline. However, their benefits extend far beyond nature conservation alone.

Healthy ecosystems provide essential services that underpin our economies and societies. Weakening the protection of our natural capital would result in significant economic and social costs. The World Economic Forum has highlighted this connection for years, including in its report Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy. Failing to protect nature is, ultimately, a form of economic asset depletion.

While implementation challenges do exist, like knowledge gaps or a lack of stakeholder engagement, these issues generally arise from shortcomings in national implementation rather than from the provisions of the Directives themselves.

The Nature Directives are currently one of the most effective tools we have in Europe to protect nature. Weakening them would endanger biodiversity, people’s wellbeing and the EU’s position in the world as a global leader on nature conservation. 

EUROPARC believes that, rather than reopening or weakening the Directives, attention should focus on addressing the real obstacles to effective implementation: inadequate funding, insufficient human resources, and gaps in skills and capacity.

How can you help?

A public consultation is currently underway to gather the views of stakeholders and citizens on the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives.

We strongly encourage those actively working in and managing Europe’s Protected Areas and natural landscapes to respond to the European Commission’s consultation on the Stress Test. The consultation remains open until 10 August.

As nature managers and conservation practitioners, it is essential that we send a clear and united message: nature conservation is not a burden, it is an investment in a resilient, prosperous, and liveable future. All evidence we can gather to convey this message will help.

To the Public Consultation

Your voice matters: provide your evidence!

The Public Consultation particularly looks for good practices related to the implementation of these Directives. It is of great support to have these ready when answering the Consultation. Additionally, you are welcome to share any good practices with the EUROPARC Directorate, so they can feed into our answer to the public consultation.

Next steps

EUROPARC Federation was invited by the European Commission Directorate-General for Environment to take part in the so-called focus group discussions as well as in a targeted survey for stakeholders. Through these, the Commission collects further information on the implementation of the Directives, such as in-depth data, figures and evidence on any disproportionate administrative burden, as well as good practices and potential solutions to reduce it. The Commission conducted these discussions also with selected Member States, and all Member States are invited to answer to the targeted survey.

EUROPARC Federation has provided and will provide information through these different channels, including the public consultation. There will also be in-person “Reality check” events for stakeholders and Member State representatives in Brussels in September.

The Commission aims to have a report on the Stress test results ready by the end of 2026.

Contact with nature is good for us. A new guide presents how we can use the power of nature for children’s health and well-being. This guest article was written in Spanish from Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD from the organisation Les Trenades. Below we propose a translation but you can read the original Spanish version here 

Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD

If we think back to our own childhood, it is highly likely that our happiest memories are linked to natural environments: playing in a wood, running through a park or jumping over waves on the beach. However, in an increasingly urbanised and digitalised world, new generations are growing up further and further removed from the natural environment.

The current scientific evidence is compelling: we are part of nature and our physical, mental and emotional health is intimately linked to our contact with it. To address this disconnect and provide practical tools – Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD – a psychologist and environmental educator, and Montse Masó-Aguado, an environmental scientist and nurse, produced the Health and Nature Guide (2024). The guide sets out a roadmap for integrating this duality into the lives of children and young people.

The origin: The Catalonia Health and Nature Platform

The creation of this guide is not an isolated event, but the result of a collaborative and strategic effort. The document has been produced within the framework of the Thematic Group on Health and Nature for Children, Adolescents and Young People (TSN IAJ), led in 2024 by the Catalan Society for Environmental Education (SCEA) and in collaboration with the Network for Nature Conservation (XCN), with the support of the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition of the Government of Catalonia.

The main objective of this framework is to highlight how a connection with nature acts as a factor in “salutogenesis”; that is, a positive resource that promotes health and well-being through prevention and resilience, rather than focusing solely on treating illness. The guide compiles recommendations as well as experiences, research and initiatives to connect children and young people with the environment, establishing a solid theoretical framework and offering practical levels of intervention.

The tangible benefits of “getting back to nature”.

In 1984, the biologist Edward O. Wilson popularised the term “biophilia”, the innate tendency of humans to focus their attention on other organisms and natural processes. When children lack this contact, they are exposed to what author Richard Louv termed “nature deficit disorder”, associated with attention difficulties, obesity and higher rates of physical and emotional illness.

Fortunately, reversing this has immediate and profound effects. Contact with nature brings holistic benefits to young children, notably its impact on cognitive and emotional development, the mitigation of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the improvement of physical and immune health.

Credits: Irene Cervera-Buisán, PhD

What is the necessary “dose”? To reap these benefits, a key question arises: how much nature do we need?

The Global Alliance for Renaturalising Child and Youth Health recommends that children spend at least 12 hours a week in a natural environment. However, evidence suggests that significant effects on well-being can already be observed with just 2 hours a week.

At an urban level, the guide adopts the 3-30-300 nature recommendation proposed by Cecil Konijnendijk: everyone should be able to see at least three trees from their window, live in a neighbourhood with 30% vegetation cover, and have a high-quality green or blue space within 300 metres of their home.

But, most importantly, it is the type of activity we engage in within nature, and even our self-perceived biodiversity. Not everyone experiences and lives nature in the same way, and therefore the effects vary.

Levels of engagement with nature

In this guide, Cervera-Buisán and Masó present a model for engaging with nature across four levels of intervention, which can inspire, amongst others, national parks, health centres, and educational, social and/or environmental organisations:

• Level 1 – Nature in everyday life: Integrating green infrastructure into cities and school playgrounds.
• Level 2 – Exploration: Sports and environmental education activities that encourage spontaneous contact.
• Level 3 – Deep connection: Immersive experiences, environmental volunteering and mindfulness practices.
• Level 4 – Therapeutic interventions: Specific health programmes designed by professionals to treat specific disorders.

A healthy future requires a healthy planet

Economic and social inequality remains one of the greatest barriers to accessing nature. Ensuring that all children, regardless of the socio-economic status of their neighbourhood, have access to these spaces is a matter of equity and public health.

Fostering children’s connection with nature not only ensures healthier and more resilient adults, but also cultivates citizens committed to caring for the environment. Because, ultimately, there can be no human health without planetary health.

You can download the Health and Nature Guide both in Catalan and its non-official (automated Deepl) translation of the guide in English.

When Protected Area staff cross borders, they do more than attend meetings. They build trust, share skills, and create lasting friendships. Across EUROPARC Transboundary Areas (TBAs), staff exchange is one of the strongest drivers of successful cooperation.

From mountain patrols to youth camps, these personal connections turn shared landscapes into shared missions.

Weekly Meetings, One Shared Mountain

In the Krkonoše and Karkonosze National Parks, staff members cross the border almost every week. Rangers carry out joint field inspections, and teams work together on conservation, research, and visitor management. The verifier highlighted these regular face-to-face meetings as a key reason why cooperation remains strong and effective.

On average, staff cross the border once a week for face-to-face meetings.

This simple routine has helped the two parks deliver dozens of successful joint projects and maintain more than two decades of close cooperation.

Personal Commitment Creates Best Practice

In the Julian Alps Transboundary Ecoregion, the partnership between Triglav National Park and Parco Naturale Prealpi Giulie was described as “absolutely best practice” in Europe. Staff working in nature conservation, sustainable tourism, youth engagement, and environmental education are deeply involved in cross-border projects.

Without the strong personal engagement of the directors and members of staff, this success could not have been realised.

Their dedication led to a major achievement in 2024: international recognition of the UNESCO Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Julian Alps.

One-Day Exchanges, Long-Term Impact

Even short visits can make a big difference. In Podyjí National Park and Thayatal National Park, staff take part in exchange visits, joint ranger patrols, and language courses. In one example, three Czech staff members spent a day with their Austrian colleagues, learning directly from each other’s daily work.

These exchanges improve communication, strengthen mutual understanding, and inspire new ideas for conservation and visitor management.

Why Staff Exchange Matters

The EUROPARC Transboundary Programme shows that successful cooperation starts with people. When staff members meet in the field, solve problems together, and share experiences, they create the trust needed to protect nature across borders.

Staff exchange turns neighbours into partners and partnerships into long-term success.

Discover the EUROPARC Transboundary Programme

The EUROPARC Transboundary Parks Programme supports Protected Areas that work together across national borders. By promoting staff exchange, joint learning, and shared management, the programme helps nature thrive without boundaries.