© 2000 by Institute of Chartered Foresters
Socio-economics of nature protection policies in the perspective of the implementation of Natura 2000 Network: the Spanish case
1 University of Lleida & Forest Policy Area, Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia, Spain
Spain's experience in nature protection is analysed from the perspective of the implementation of a new EU-wide nature protection network: Natura 2000. Natura 2000 aims at a harmonized nature protection policy at the European level. It opens the opportunity for a review of the existing protection policies. Due to its wide range of climates, Spain will be the leading country in the Natura 2000 protected area. Following the holistic approach of sustainability environmental, economic and social as defined in UNCED (Río de Janeiro (1992), Helsinki (1993) and Lisbon (1998)) special attention is given to the distribution of the costs and benefits of the protected-areas policy. Several socio-economic proposals for an improved protected-areas policy are developed.