1. Guidance document ‘Management of wilderness and wild areas in Natura 2000’
Expert group on management of Natura 2000
Olli Ojala, Unit B.3. Nature, DG Environment

2. Contract Contributors: Loek Kuiters Zoltan Kun Neil McIntosh
Carleen Poirters
Rob van Apeldoorn
Vlado Vancura
Michiel van Eupen
Contact person:
Olli Ojala (DG ENV)

3. Purpose of Guidance
Pekka Halonen, 1899
Guidance in management of Natura 2000 sites where the objective is to preserve wilderness qualities
Present current knowledge on the benefits of such objective
Clarify relevance of Birds and Habitats Directives for wilderness areas by looking at qualities of wilderness
Clarify key aspects of the management of wilderness areas
Provide best practice examples, both on non-intervention management and restoration in Natura 2000

4. Index http://biodiversity.europa.eu Chapters 1.
What is wilderness in the context of Natura 2000? 2.
EU policy framework on biodiversity preservation 3.
Ecosystem resilience, ecosystem services and benefits 4.
Management approaches for wilderness in Natura 2000 5.
Communication strategies

5. Definition
A working definition was developed for the purposes of this guidance:
A wilderness is an area governed by natural processes, it is composed of native habitats and species and it is large enough for the ecological functioning of natural processes and the shaping of natural structures. It is untouched, and appears to be primarily affected by the forces of nature. It is undeveloped without settlements, roads or visual disturbance.
In the guidance term wilderness is applied:
to protected areas where management objectives of the site aim at achieving those objectives;
to areas outside protected areas where most of the wilderness qualities are found.
It is not meant to be used as qualification criterion for areas.
In Europe ‘wilderness’ is a relative concept. Therefore, wilderness continuum concept is necessary.

6. In the context of Natura 2000 and biodiversity policy
Non-intervention management is current practice in >13% of the area of the network
Management contributes to FCS of habitats and species of Community interest and to wider biodiversity targets
Compatible with Article 6(1) and 6(2) of habitats directive and Article 4(1) and 4(2) of the Birds Directive
Habitats that benefit from non-intervention management can be found under all habitat groups under Annex I to the Habitats Directive
Especially specialist species will benefit (e.g. saproxylic species) but also species that benefit from large areas (e.g. large carnivores)
Important for Article 10 of the Habitats Directive

7. Benefits of wilderness approach
Resilience
Helps fighting many of the major causes of biodiversity loss
habitat loss and degradation (especially fragmentation)
more robust and more resilient systems
larger areas can host larger populations of vulnerable species
climate change
invasive alien species
Services
provisioning services
regulating services (e.g. carbon sequestration, wild fire mitigation)
Social, cultural services and economic benefits

8. Management objectives
Provided that FCS at regional, national or biogeographical level is guaranteed
Natural fluctuations at the individual site level following natural processes fit well within the Natura 2000 requirements, even if the area of some habitats types may locally and temporarily decrease
Maintainence of the dynamic complexes of habitats, such as those in wilderness areas influenced only by natural processes with natural fluctuations, can be an appropriate conservation objective for particular Natura 2000 sites,
Processes leading to a degradation of natural habitat types due to anthropogenic processes are not permitted

9. Wilderness approach not suitable
Non-intervention management may conflict with the ecological requirements of species or habitats of Community interest
Habitat types and species linked to traditional land-use practices, such as livestock grazing, hay-making, reed cutting, and wood-logging (coppice) can often only be maintained continuing these land-use practices
A list of 63 habitat types dependent on agricultural activities has been identified in the Annex II to the EU Biodiversity baseline
Nearly 40 bird species and nearly 30 other species of Community interest are linked to agro-ecosystems
Agro-ecosystems cover 38% of the surface of the Natura 2000 network
A continued low intensity agriculture in many parts of Natura 2000 sites where these secondary habitat types are found is the right management approach.
The abandonment of land creates a potential threat to the maintenance and achievement of a favourable conservation status of many species and habitats of Community interest
The impact of agricultural activities could be replaced by introducing wild herbivore species to the area (e.g. European bison, Red deer, Chamois, Ibex).
good monitoring scheme essential

10. Management measures Zonation Improving connectivity Restoration
Establishing non-intervention after natural disturbance
Bark beetle
Eradication of alien species/re-introduction of natural species
Natural forest fire prevention
Mediterranean region
Monitoring and research
Education
Ranger services

11. Concluding remarks Wilderness qualities make ecosystems resilient;
Non-intervention management also implies that dynamic processes leading to habitat changes will occur;
Monitoring and adaptive management;
Appropriate management for Natura 2000 sites should be developed in view of the general objective to ensure a FCS of the species and habitats for which the sites have been designated;
identifying workable targets for wilderness maintenance or restoration measures;
Non-intervention management is relevant throughout the various habitat groups listed in the Habitats Directive Annex I and species of Community interest;
The management authorities must also consider the larger scale outside the managed areas as there might be effects from outside the Natura 2000 sites, influencing the wilderness qualities;
Nature conservation and ecological requirements of conservation objectives sometimes conflict with other land management. This conflict may require input from the Natura 2000 site managers.