The Natura 2000 Romania Coalition and the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) will launch on Wednesday the project "Innovation for Nature - effective policies and collaboration for a functional network of protected areas" during an event dedicated to the impact of disinformation and the media on conservation policies.
According to the organisers, the agenda includes debates on how narratives and disinformation influence public perception of nature and public policy decisions in the biodiversity conservation area.
Speakers will include Mihai Pop, vice-president of the Association for the Conservation of Biological Diversity and researcher at the Research and Development Institute for Hunting and Mountain Resources, George Kudor, executive director of the Natura 2000 Romania Coalition, protected areas specialist and graduate of the applied geobiology programme for the conservation of natural and cultural heritage within the Faculty of Geology.
Valeriu Nicolae, activist, writer and observer of misconduct in public communication, winner of the "European of the Year" award and founder of numerous educational initiatives in disadvantaged areas, will also address the event.
"In Romania, protected and conservation areas cover more than 23% of the national territory. Nevertheless, despite this apparently significant percentage, the effectiveness of these areas in conserving biodiversity remains limited. In many cases, protected areas exist largely on a formal basis, without functional management structures, without adequate resources and without clear mechanisms for evaluating how they are managed," the organisers say.
According to the source, this situation is caused by "a combination of structural factors: an incomplete legislative framework, chronic underfunding of the system, limited administrative capacity and a political climate often unfavourable to the involvement of civil society."
"In addition, the exclusion or marginalisation of relevant actors, such as environmental NGOs, from administration, consultation and decision-making processes contributes to maintaining an inefficient system. However, beyond these institutional and technical causes, there is a less discussed but equally important dimension: the way environmental issues are reflected, interpreted and sometimes distorted in the public sphere," the quoted source also says.
