Performing failure in conservation policy: The implementation of European Union directives in the Netherlands

Stakeholder perceptions in relation to changes in the management of Natura 2000 sites and the causes and consequences of change. : A survey in England, Flanders, France and the Netherlands

“…In several European countries considerable resistance occurred against designation resulting in protests and law suits (Alphandéry and Fortier 2001;Hiedanpaa 2002;Bryan 2012;Beunen et al 2013). Now that the countries are in a phase of management planning it is interesting to see whether stakeholders still perceive Natura 2000 as an impediment to their activities and for the future of the area.…”

Europe: the paradox of landscape change : A case-study based contribution to the understanding of landscape transitions

“…Chapter 5 focuses on the Habitats Directive (HD), specifically how the Habitats Directive is being implemented in different countries. The Habitats Directive is a typical example of a policy that has been implemented in a rather prescriptive, topdown manner (Beunen et al 2013). It seems fairly straightforward in the way it has been conceived and should be implemented, yet it still yields very different results in different countries.…”

“…In the Netherlands, the responsibility for management planning was decentralised to the Provinces, and stakeholder groups were involved for the specific sites. Lack of initial stakeholder dialogue however provoked continued contestation of management planning in relation to Natura 2000, and Beunen et al (2013) argue that the efforts to decentralise and increase involvement has not been successful due to the long period of negative framing, and that the room for negotiation is in reality small.…”

“…Moreover, a change in regulatory style from the tradition of negotiation and deliberation to an emphasis on legal requirements took place and has already been well-documented in the literature for the Netherlands (e.g. Arnouts and Arts 2009;Beunen 2006;Beunen et al 2013;Van Keulen 2007) describing how the uncertainty related to the implications of the designations created resistance to the designation process, and also, how deliberation processes, formerly taking place through governance traditions related to spatial planning processes, were overtaken by legal procedures, where interests were increasingly pursued in court cases (Beunen et al 2013). These findings of delays, opposition and distrust, were confirmed by respondents in this study, explaining that even if interaction has improved, lack of communication still gives rise to myths on the implications of the site designation for economic activities.…”

“…Domestic implementation is one issue covered, of which the Netherlands stands out as a thoroughly investigated case (e.g. Arnouts and Arts 2009;Bennett and Ligthart 2001;Beunen 2006;Beunen and de Vries 2011;Beunen et al 2013;Ferranti et al 2010). These studies uncover heavily conflict-laden processes and the necessity of finding new ways to deal with these.…”