Management planning guidance for protected sites in the UK; a comparison of formats and definitions in nine guides

SummaryNine easily available management planning guides, all aimed at UK protected sites (SSSI, Natura 2000, Ramsar, etc.), were compared. Basic formats recommended by these guides were similar, so that plans based on them should look superficially alike. In contrast, definitions of key terms (vision, objective, and constraint or factor) often varied significantly between guides, even though there is a great deal of collaboration between publishing organisations. Additional guidance and rules for objectives only increased differences between guides, and created differences even where definitions were similar. The variable nature of management planning guidance raises concerns about the consistency of plan preparation for protected sites across the UK. Suggestions are made for standardising management planning guidance.