Managing Natura 2000 in a changing world. The case of the Serra da Estrela (Portugal)

The European Commission and Member States are committed to halt the decline of biodiversity in Europe by 2020 and to increase knowledge about habitats and species. That does not need to be a new illusion, says researcher Jan Jansen. He studied the situation in the Serra da Estrela (Portugal). This demonstrates that in an area with traditional agriculture, biodiversity in different habitats is in an almost twice as good condition as in the EU as a whole. However, there are numerous threats, including the decline of traditional agriculture, the repeated occurrences of devastating wildfires, the increasing abandonment, and a lack of knowledge regarding habitats and species. Jansen demonstrates using the Estrela as an example how knowledge gaps can be filled and how in a rapidly changing world, the promise of the EC can be sustainably met. Agriculture should be put in a new coat. Jansen seeks the solution in a territorial approach, where all stakeholders (old and new) share the responsibility to use and manage the landscape, as in the old commons (baldios) was the case. Natura 2000 will act as the core of a ìnew commonî in which biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services can be managed sustainably. In order to facilitate this model in its juvenile stage, funding would be needed and perhaps here the new Common Agricultural Policy (to be established in 2013) can play an important role.