Latvia

The implementation of Natura 2000 in the New EU Member States of Central Europe is a long process which began with the signing of Accession Treaties in the beginning of the 1990s and will continue for several years. Environmental NGOs have been lobbying for proper designation and implementation of Natura 2000 sites with the involvement of civil society. This publication, prepared by several experts from nature protection organisations, gives a picture of this process.

This review of the European bison’s (Bison bonasus) status clearly indicates that, through proper management and conservation, its present numbers and distribution have improved significantly since its extinction in the wild at the beginning of the 20th century. The Action Plan briefly summarizes the history of extinction in the wild and present status of the European bison, as well as the reasons of extinction.

IUCN's 5th World Parks Congress (2003) concluded that parks should not exist as unique islands, but need to be planned and managed as an integral part of the broader landscape. Ecological networks provide an operational model for conserving biodiversity that is based on ecological principles and allow a degree of human use of the landscape.

The aim of this international seminar was to discuss tools for ecological planning in the context of preparing for implementation of the EU Natura 2000 network, and to explore the possibilities for integrating nature conservation objectives into sectoral policies such as agriculture. This publication presents the agreed recommendations of the seminar, the guest papers and brief national overviews.