From 10-12 March, over 70 Protected Area professionals gathered in Prague for the LIFE PAME-Europe Training Seminar for Pilot Sites. Learn more about why they were in Prague!

What is LIFE PAME-Europe?

The LIFE PAME-Europe project is a EUROPARC led project to support the development of a Framework to assess Management Effectiveness in European Protected Areas. Building on the best of what already exists globally and nationally, the PAME-Europe Framework will ensure that across Europe we can collect robust data to measure the effectiveness of our Protected Areas, and support Protected Area managers in delivering better outcomes for biodiversity.

Why Management Effectiveness?

Biodiversity is declining. This has serious impacts on the health of our planet and people. From food security to fresh water – humans rely on biodiversity and well-functioning ecosystems.

Protected Areas have a vital role to play to halt biodiversity loss. That is why European and global targets aim to protect at least 30% of land and sea. However, designating Protected Areas is not enough. We need to ensure that these spaces are effectively managed. The PAME-Europe Framework will help Protected Area Managers, as well as national authorities, to assess how effective their management is: more than just a reporting system, this self-assessement Framework will help adapt management plans to ensure they are delivering on the best results for nature.

What happened in Prague?

To ensure that the Framework is fit for purpose, 47 Protected Areas across Europe are putting it to the test! After an open call, Pilot Sites were carefully selected to represent a broad geographical range, as well as various degrees of experience with PAME.

Representatives of these LIFE PAME-Europe Pilot Sites came together in Prague to kick-start their co-learning journey. Over the course of 2 days, 75 Protected Area professionals were able to dive into the draft LIFE PAME-Europe Framework and provide their feedback. Through interactive sessions and presentations from the project’s Advisory Board, the event served as the starting point for the Pilot Sites to familiarise themselves with the project, its objectives, and also get to know their peers starting this journey with them.

What will success look like?

Apart from an extensive interrogation of the draft PAME-Europe Framework, participants could also provide their feedback on what success would look like for the project. In an interactive session led by Ben Ross from NatureScot, who is also part of the project’s Advisory Board, the main outcomes identified by participants include:

• Site managers define success primarily in terms of better management, not better reporting.
• The main barriers to effective management relate to resources, governance and stakeholder context rather than lack of knowledge.
• The Framework must be simple, useful and flexible if it is to be widely adopted.
• Participants favoured a system that supports learning and improvement rather than one focused primarily on accountability.
• Managers expect the Framework to help demonstrate the value of Protected Areas and support decisions at multiple levels.

These insights are incredibly valuable for the project partners. They provide a good understanding of what is required to ensure the outcomes of the project are of use for practitioners, and also to inform the training needs for Pilot Sites.

What next?

The feedback gathered will now be assessed by the LIFE PAME-Europe project partners, resulting in a second draft of the PAME-Europe Framework and accompanying documents. The draft Framework will though continue to be developed and evolve based on the Pilot Sites’ experiences throughout the remainder of 2026. Furthermore, to ensure that the Pilot Sites are well-equipped to start the piloting of the Framework, they are receiving tailor-made online training delivered through the European Nature Academy. Until the end of June, this training will prepare the Pilot Sites for their implementation of the PAME-Framework. Over the Summer, they will begin the Framework self-assessments and provide feedback on its strengths and weaknesses.

Based on this feedback, the LIFE PAME-Europe project partners will adapt the Framework. All this will ensure that the final result will be of actual benefit to Protected Area managers and – by extension – biodiversity.  Equally, working in close collaboration with DG Env of the European Commission and the European Environment Agency, the project aims to produce a Framework that can enhance PAME reporting so that we are able to measure more confidently the state of progress towards biodiversity targets and priorities.  

Want to stay involved?

If you’d like to remain informed on the project and all its developments, we invite you to subscribe to the Management Effectiveness Community (MEC) mailing list here:

To the MEC!