The Natura 2000 network, which is one of the largest networks of protected areas in the world, is the core pillar in the European Union’s biodiversity conservation policy. To achieve the national enforcement of Natura 2000 and to overcome implementation problems, effective policy measures are needed, and participation among different stakeholders is required. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the process of formulation of the Natura 2000 Management Program (2015–2020) in Slovenia based on a set of criteria and indicators for the evaluation of a participatory process, and to present the differences between the stakeholders’ evaluations according to their role in the implementation process. For that purpose, stakeholders were divided into two groups—stakeholders from project partner’s institution, and others. The research was done in two steps: First, in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 representatives of the key stakeholders’ institutions or organizations that were involved in the formulation of the Natura 2000 Management Program were carried out; in the second, a survey with 266 stakeholders involved in the formulation and decision-making process was conducted. Overall, the results show that the participatory process was well organized, independent and fair; however, not all of the requisite conditions for successful participation were fulfilled, as was shown with the sub-criteria of transparency. The only difference between the groups exists in the evaluations of the sub-criteria transparency of the process. The group of stakeholders from the project’s partner institutions were more satisfied with the transparency of the process, as the average value was 3.36, compared to the others where the average value of satisfaction was 2.80. This indicates the need for an improved, novel, and innovative approach that leads to multi-level governance.

The complex policy decision-making situation around nature conservation requires examination of the operational environment. This study develops and tests a three-phase analytical framework for the evaluation of operational environment factors influencing nature conservation policy implementation. The four important operational environment factors (legal, policy, economic, and social) have been identified, to build up a framework. The framework was tested in selected countries and includes experts’ opinions. Experts (n = 44) from five EU countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and four non-EU countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) defined and evaluated the factors and sub-factors that affect the operational environment related to nature conservation policy implementation. The results show policy changes arising from the new governance requirements introduced by changed political regime and Europeanization are key driving factors for changes in the nature conservation operational environment. For nature conservation, these wide-reaching changes have led to new political and legal frameworks, new institutional set-ups and multilevel governance frameworks, new establishment of protected areas and Natura 2000 network, and the re-allocation of financial resources and inclusion of non-state actors in policy decision-making. However, there are also some challenges and unsolved problems that need further attention from policy decision-makers and institutions, especially related to the institutional gap, sustainable financing of nature conservation, transposition of the EU Directives into legal systems, designation of sites or improving their implementation, implementation of innovative funding schemes, and a transparent participatory process. This analytical framework can be applied to various problems related to any environmental issues or other policy implementation or management, and other sectors where public decision-making is combined with stakeholders’ engagement.

Stakeholder participation has become an important driving force in policy decision-making and implementation, particularly in the nature conservation sector, where complex interactions and conflict of interest between stakeholders are common. A stakeholder analysis, which was complemented with a social network analysis, was used to examine the cooperation and conflict network between stakeholders, their institutions, and sectors in the case of the formulation of the Natura 2000 Management programme in Slovenia for the period 2015–2020 (PUN). Using data from a web survey (n = 167), cooperation and conflict networks were analysed while using degree centrality, indegree centrality, betweenness centrality, and blockmodeling. The results of the stakeholder analysis showed that the highest number of stakeholders that are involved in the participatory process of PUN was from the forestry and hunting sector, followed by the agriculture and nature conservation sector. The results of the cooperation network showed that the network is highly centralized, with only few institutions taking a central position in the PUN process (Institute for Nature Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, and the Slovenian Forest Service). Moreover, the nature conservation sector was, on average, a sector with the highest concentration of power. In addition, in the cooperation network, which was fragmented across sectors, there were institutions that belonged to the same sector, which tended to cooperate with each other. The analysis of the conflict network showed that institutions with a central position in the cooperation network also had a central role in the conflict network. In addition, conflicts between institutions more frequently appeared among institutions from different sectors. The exceptions were institutions from the fishery and water sector, as this sector seemed to have many conflicts within it. Based on a blockmodeling, four groups of institutions were identified according to their cooperation network (core institutions, semi-core institutions, semi-periphery institutions, and periphery institutions). Our finding suggested that the participatory process of formulating PUN needs to be improved in such a way that in the future various stakeholders, especially excluded local ones, are more actively involved and a balance of the power between the stakeholders involved achieved.

Zadnjih desetljeća, primjena politike zaštite prirode, zasnovane na principima javnog sudjelovanja, postala je jedna od glavnih izazova za znanstvenike i donositelje odluka. Primjena politike očuvanja prirode slijedi dva osnovna pristupa: izdvajanje na osnovi prostorne podjele zaštićenih područja od proizvodnih, i pristup integracije, na temelju kojega se uključuju proizvodne i zaštitne namjene prostora. U mnogo slučajeva primjena politike očuvanja prirode uzrokovala je porast sukoba radi različitih i kompetitivnih principa korištenja zemlje, različitih interesa i pogleda. Cilj istraživanja je analizirati mišljenja stručnjaka o mogućim sukobima, prilikama i teškoćama za ljudske aktivnosti, ograničenjima u gospodarenju šumom vezano na uspostavu novih zaštićenih područja. Istraživanje je strukturirano u tri osnovna koraka: analiza stručnjaka, anketiranje i statistička obrada prikupljenih podataka. Polu-strukturirani upitnik putem emaila poslan je stručnjacima prema planiranom uzorku u svaku zemlju koja je uključena u COST CAPABAL projekt (COST Targeted Network TN1401 “CAPABAL” (41 sudionik u 10 zemalja). Podaci su statistički obrađeni, kako bi se naglasile razlike između EU28 zemalja članica i nečlanica i među institucijama (javna administracija, stručnjaci iz šumarstva i drvne industrije, fakulteta i istraživačkih institucija i okolišnih nevladinih organizacija). Na kraju prikupljanja podataka, sakupljn je 41 upitnik, koji su ispunili stručnjaci podijeljeni na zemlje članice EU (22 upitnika sa udjelom 54% u uzorku), i 19 stručnjaka iz zemalja izvan EU (46%). Promatrajući distribuciju uzorka prema zainteresiranim grupama, 41,5% ispitanika predstavlja javnu administraciju, 29,3% sveučilišta i istraživačke institute, 22% sudjeluje u lancu šuma-drvo, 7,3% su članovi nevladinih okolišnih udruga. Rezultati pokazuju da su najčešće vrste sukoba one koje su vezane za procedure uspostave novih zaštićenih zona, s posebnim naglaskom na ograničenja prava vlasništva i dodatno administriranje. Sudionici iz zemalja koje nisu EU28 članice, više su naglasile važnost ograničenja lovnih aktivnosti kao potencijalni sukob u usporedbi za sudionicima iz EU28 zemalja članica. Vezano na mogućnosti i ograničenja ljudskih aktivnosti u zaštićenim područjima, rezultati su pokazali da je razvoj ekoturizma jedna on najznačajnijih prilika za razvoj ruralnih marginalnih područja. Najveća zapreka je otežano gospodarenja šumom (pridobivanje drva) vezano za zahtjeve očuvanja prirode. Konačno, rezultati pokazuju da na ispitivanom uzorku najveća zabrinutost u gospodarenju šumom su dodatno vrijeme i novac potreban za nadzor i primjenu aktivnosti očuvanja prirode u zaštićenim područjima. Za ispitanike iz EU28 zemalja članica najveća zabrinutost vezano na aktivnosti gospodarenja šumom je primjena aktivnosti očuvanja prirode u zaštićenim područjima, dok su ispitanici izvan EU28 zemalja istaknuli primjenu pesticida kao najvažniju promjenu u gospodarenju šumom. Stavovi stručnjaka su temeljna početna pozicija koju treba uzeti u obzir kako bi se umanjili sukobi između očuvanja prirode i ljudskih aktivnosti te povećala socijalna uključenost u politiku očuvanja prirode.