Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites

The paper argues that traditional top-down, uni-dimensional management of protected areas fails to capture the complexity of social-ecological systems. To address this, the authors develop a participatory integrated assessment approach that combines social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) with economic valuation via choice experiments and ecological valuation via bio-geographic assessment. Applying this to the Garate-Santa Barbara Natura 2000 site in the Basque Country, the study identifies a conflict between the conservation of cork oak forests and the expansion of txakoli vineyards. The results indicate that a management option increasing cork oak woodland combined with additional compensation schemes (Alternative A32) is the most globally valued and socially acceptable solution. The authors conclude that such an interdisciplinary, inclusive approach fosters social learning and creates the social capital necessary for sustainable land-use transitions.

• Traditional top-down management of protected areas often relies on narrow scientific criteria and neglects socio-economic factors and public participation, which can lead to land use conflicts.
• The proposed participatory integrated assessment approach uses a social multi-criteria evaluation (SMCE) framework to integrate economic values of ecosystem services (via choice experiments) and ecological values (via spatial bio-geographic assessment).
• In the Garate-Santa Barbara (GSB) case study, a primary conflict exists between the conservation of cork oak forests and the preference of landowners to allocate land to the growing txakoli wine sector.
• Economic valuation using a choice experiment with a sample of 400 individuals in the Basque Country found that the highest annual willingness to pay (WTP) per 1% increase in land area was for indigenous woodland (2.55 Euros), followed by pine forest plantation (0.66 Euros) and vineyards (0.50 Euros).
• Among the tested management alternatives for the GSB site, Alternative A32—which involves a significant increase in cork oak woodland and the implementation of additional compensation schemes—was ranked as the best overall option.
• Conflict analysis revealed that a collective agreement among the majority of social actors could be reached through alternatives that increase cork oak woodland with modest compensation schemes between 29,000 and 36,000 Euros per year.

APA

Etxano, I., Garmendia, E., Pascual, U., Hoyos, D., Díez, M. A., Cadiñanos, J. A., & Lozano, P. J. (2012). Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20121017010604698737663.pdf

Chicago

Etxano, Iker, Eneko Garmendia, Unai Pascual, David Hoyos, María A. Díez, José A. Cadiñanos, and Pedro J. Lozano. Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites. Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2012. https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20121017010604698737663.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Etxano |first1=Iker |last2=Garmendia |first2=Eneko |last3=Pascual |first3=Unai |last4=Hoyos |first4=David |last5=Díez |first5=María A. |last6=Cadiñanos |first6=José A. |last7=Lozano |first7=Pedro J. |title=Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |date=October 2012 |url=https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20121017010604698737663.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{etxano2012towards, author = {Etxano, Iker and Garmendia, Eneko and Pascual, Unai and Hoyos, David and Díez, María A. and Cadiñanos, José A. and Lozano, Pedro J.}, title = {{Towards a Participatory Integrated Assessment Approach for Planning and Managing Natura 2000 Network Sites}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, year = {2012}, month = oct, url = {https://www.bc3research.org/h6T8Uy8Nm4gFs0O/20121017010604698737663.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }