
Guidelines on how to apply the principles of process oriented nature management
In the PONC project (Process Oriented Nature Conservation) six partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Romania, all with a background in nature conservation, forestry and agriculture, tried to find out how we could make the landscape less hostile for biodiversity and how to remove the boundaries or obstacles to natural processes. We collected the knowledge and experience in this handbook for professionals, guiding them through the process of applying process oriented principles in their nature conservation and landscape management projects.
We focused on landscapes which are challenging in the sense that they have to fulfill many functions and with hundreds of stakeholders: our highly populated, urbanised landscapes. Our goal was to work with nature when possible and give room for natural processes whenever possible. We applied our questions, insights, discussions, problems and solutions to theoretical test cases in the participating countries. We visited landscapes in each country and tried to figure out why some aspects worked and others did not, and if they were transferable to other countries. Our optimism for finding solutions to create a wilder landscape was already high in the beginning, and while we all gained a lot more knowledge during these 3 years, our optimism at the end of this project is even higher. We all believe it is possible to find solutions to create landscapes, big or small, where natural processes can occur, alongside people. We are convinced that all stakeholders will benefit in the long run.
This document will short-circuit the learning process for other organisations going through the same process in the future, allowing for them to learn from success stories and avoid pitfalls. This handbook does not provide all the answers, but at least identifies the right questions to be asked and the right stakeholders to talk to.
Click here to read the handbook