Themes – Nature conservation

Nature conservation in coastal areas: base for opportunities or conflicts?

Some coastal habitats are amongst the most highly valued on the planet, and have therefore seen a long history of nature conservation. For other coastal habitats, we only recently have started to acknowledge their ecological importance and thus the need to impose protection measures.

In coastal areas, where the competition for space by a wide variety of stakeholders is fierce, the process to designate areas for nature conservation is often complicated and troublesome. With the implementation of a number of European directives (Birds Directive, Habitat Directive, Water Framework Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive) on national level, the process of nature conservation has been altered in several ways.

During the Littoral2012 conference, we want to discuss how international and national frameworks and policies shape the process of nature conservation in coastal regions. We are very interested to hear from various stakeholders about their experience with for instance the implementation of the Natura 2000 network or the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Are these directives hampering economic development? Do they pose problems to realize infrastructure works for private or public services? Can we identify new opportunities, besides the obvious environmental gains?

Given the many user functions in coastal areas, it is sometimes suggested the concept of nature conservation should be redesigned for coastal habitats. Interlinking with the themes of productivity and infrastructure of the Littoral2012 conference, the participants of Littoral2012 will be asked to think out of the box when discussing the place of nature conservation in the coasts of tomorrow. The expected diversity in background of Littoral participants will create the ideal mix for this challenging exercise!

Participants are invited to present papers that cover any of the following subjects related to nature conservation:

• Examples of coastal conservation projects with the pros and cons of the conservation process;
• Experiences with environmental protection frameworks and how they impact coastal development (social and/or economic);
• Ideas on novel, multi-use concepts of nature conservation;
• Suggestions on pathways towards a smooth nature conservation process in coastal areas