A webinar on social and economic benefits of protected landscapes was organised by Europarc Atlantic Isles on 20 November.

Marianne Kettunen, Senior Policy Analyst in IEEP’s Biodiversity Programme, kicked off the event by presenting a European overview of the topic. She also outlined some key considerations for assessing benefits in practice, building on the findings of the latest IEEP book on protected area benefits.

Marianne’s talk was followed by interesting presentations on the findings of ‘Valuing England’s National Parks’ report (Amanda Brace, National Park England) and development of sustainable tourism in Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales (Richard Tyler, Brecon Beacons NP Authority).

There seems to be clear interest among park authorities and other practitioners to explore how assessing the socio-economic benefits of protected landscapes can support their management in practise. Consequently, Europarc Atlantic Isles is planning to host a training seminar in 2014 to explore all these issues in more depth.