Managing Natura 2000 in the marine environment – An evaluation of the effectiveness of ‘management schemes’ in England

•Management Schemes are the UK approach to conserving Natura 2000 in the marine environment.•This is a structured approach that depends upon co-operation between competent authorities.•It was developed by a LIFE Nature project and its effectiveness was analysed in 2012.•The review identified strengths and weaknesses that are relevant to situations world-wide.•It emphasises the need for long-term commitment to implementation and associated monitoring feedback.

T he EU Habitats Directive (1992) has been a major mechanism for conservation of marine biodiversity in the UK. It involves rigorous scrutiny of new plans or projects combined with the use of local regulatory powers to limit detrimental impacts on important wildlife assets. UK law requires the statutory nature conservation adviser to establish conservation objectives for sites, but the management mechanism is effectively voluntary. The ‘management scheme’ was developed in the latter part of the 1990s and has been in place for more than a decade. This paper describes the lessons learned following a review commissioned to determine the effectiveness of management schemes.Strong local commitment and leadership of management schemes have helped to improve the conservation status of some sites. Elsewhere, the absence of legal provision for a designated leadership structure means that some management schemes may not have performed as effectively as they could have. Weaknesses in the feedback loop between monitoring and assessment of the need for corrective action were also detected. In addition, insecure funding provisions mean that staff turnover can be high and this limits scheme effectiveness, which is dependent upon the maintenance of a sound knowledge base.The strengths of well-led and proactive management approaches could be fostered elsewhere provided relevant authorities and their staff are empowered to do so. The lessons arising from this approach are relevant to management initiatives worldwide, even though different legislative frameworks will apply. They emphasise the importance of matching legal provisions with the necessary capacity to make sure that management interventions are implemented and are respected.