Communicating values and benefits of protected areas in Europe

Proceedings of the international workshop on “Communicating values and benefits of protected areas in Europe” held in April 2009 on the Baltic island of Vilm, Germany, organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Europarc Federation. First, the objectives, proposals and reccomendations of the seminar were outlined. The recommendations target the Europarc Federation, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas and the participants of the seminar. The recommendations are based on the need to take into account all types of values and benefits of protected areas rather than just the values of the natural heritage or economic benefits that are normally cited.Different points of view regarding the values and benefits of protected areas are analysed in terms of the services, various international activities and more specific aspects. Both tangible and intangible values were taken into consideration, including cultural and spiritual values in the latter case. Subsequently a number of experiences in the communication of values and benefits in new protected areas in various European countries are outlined. Finally, the questions, answers, viewpoints, lessons, hopes and conclusions generated by the workshops are presented.