Ecological network and local authorities sociological instruments (Nature and Environment No. 126) (2002)

Ever closer links have been forged between caring for nature on the one hand and human activities on the other. In recent years there has been a shift from an interest in reserve-based nature, which excluded man and human activities, to an increasingly powerful nature-culture relationship. Nature protection became nature conservation and then nature development with the integration of socio-economic and cultural aspects. Within the framework of the setting-up of the Pan-European Ecological Network, these sociological aspects have a great importance for establishing an ecological network where the scientific aspects of biodiversity protection must co-exist with nature management and development.