LIFE PAME-Europe Webinar
National Approaches to Protected Area Management Effectiveness
14 October 2026
11:00 - 12:30 CEST
Join the first webinar of the LIFE PAME-Europe Project!
How do we know whether Protected Areas are being managed effectively? How can we assess where there is room for improvement?
Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) assessments help managers answer these questions. By looking systematically at how a Protected Area is planned, governed, managed and monitored, PAME assessments can identify what is working well, where challenges remain, and where management can be strengthened to achieve better outcomes for biodiversity.
Across Europe, countries have developed their own approaches to assessing management effectiveness, reflecting their different conservation systems, governance structures and experiences. These national approaches offer valuable lessons for others, whether they are just beginning their PAME journey or already have an established assessment process in place.
The LIFE PAME-Europe project is working towards a PAME Framework that can be applied across Protected Areas in Europe. As part of this process, the project consortium is learning from existing international and national approaches to ensure that the emerging system is practical, easy-to-use, relevant and available for use across Europe.
This webinar will showcase four national approaches to PAME, offering insights into how assessment systems have been developed and implemented in different contexts. Speakers will share experiences, lessons learned and perspectives from Spain, Estonia, Germany and Finland and highlight what makes a PAME process useful for Protected Area management.
The webinar will also provide an update on the LIFE PAME-Europe project and its work towards a European approach.
Whether you are considering your first PAME assessment or looking to strengthen an existing system, this webinar will provide practical inspiration and an opportunity to learn from colleagues across Europe.
Register here:
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Programme
Welcome and Introduction
Neil McIntosh, Project Manager for LIFE PAME-Europe, EUROPARC Federation
Evaluation of Management Effectiveness in German National Parks
Anja May, Technical advisor for national parks and wilderness at Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V.
PAME Assessments in Estonia
Kirsi Loide, nature conservation planning specialist at the Estonian Environmental Board
External Evaluation of Finnish Protected Areas
Dr Ben Ross, Head of Protected Areas, Innovation and Data at NatureScot
Regional PAME Assessments and Site-Specific Evaluations in the Natura 2000 Network in Spain
Francisco Guil Celada, Head of MPA programme, Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge Spain
Q&A
Participants will be able to pose questions after each of the speakers.
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EUROPARC events give you the opportunity to get new ideas, tools and inspiration from other protected area professionals. At real time. Person to person. Without leaving your home.
Meet the speakers
Anja May
Technical advisor for national parks and wilderness at Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V.
Since 2017, Anja has worked for Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V. (NNL e.V.), the umbrella organisation for Germany’s large Protected Areas, where she is responsible for national parks and wilderness areas. Her work focuses particularly on quality assurance, including the application of quality criteria and standards and the evaluation of management effectiveness. Since the end of 2024, NNL e.V. has been part of the LIFE PAME-Europe project consortium.
Evaluation of Management Effectiveness in German National Parks
Anja will introduce the German approach to evaluating management effectiveness in German national parks, including the quality criteria and standards used as benchmarks. She will outline how individual national park evaluations are carried out and how the results are brought together through a synthesis and cross-sectional analysis. The presentation will highlight key findings and recommendations for further improving management effectiveness in German national parks.
Dr Ben Ross
Head of Protected Areas, Innovation and Data at NatureScot
Dr Ben Ross is Head of Protected Areas, Innovation and Data at NatureScot, Scotland’s nature agency. He leads work to strengthen the contribution of existing and new area-based conservation approaches to reversing biodiversity loss in Scotland, including through effective planning, management and monitoring. Ben has worked in conservation for more than 25 years, including on protected species management and wildlife regulation. He was part of the international expert team that carried out the most recent system-level management effectiveness evaluation of Parks & Wildlife Finland.
External Evaluation of Finnish Protected Areas
Finland was among the first countries in the world to establish a national PAME system. The first assessment of Finnish Protected Areas took place in 2004, followed by a second system-level assessment in 2023 involving an international group of experts. Ben was part of this expert group and will share his experience of the evaluation process, including key lessons that can be learned from the Finnish approach.
Kirsi Loide
Nature conservation planning specialist at the Estonian Environmental Board
Kirsi Loide has worked as a nature conservation planning specialist at the Estonian Environmental Board since 2016. She studied ecology and biodiversity conservation at the University of Tartu. Her work focuses on nature conservation planning and the assessment of Protected Area Management Effectiveness, including the implementation of Estonia’s national PAME approach.
PAME Assessements in Estonia
In 2025, the Estonian Environmental Board launched systematic PAME assessments of Protected Areas with support from the Swiss-Estonian Cooperation Programme. The approach uses an adapted PAME methodology based on the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) and other management effectiveness assessment frameworks. A small team of conservation planners has so far assessed nearly 140 Protected Areas. Kirsi will share insights into the process and how the results are being used to support adaptive conservation management within the Environmental Board.
Francisco Guil Celada
Head of MPA programme, Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge Spain
Francisco Guil is a senior environmental and biodiversity expert at the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), with extensive experience in nature conservation, Protected Areas, and marine biodiversity policy. He combines a strong scientific background, including wildlife conservation research and numerous publications, with leadership in the implementation of Natura 2000, biodiversity governance, and international environmental commitments
Regional PAME Assessments and Site-Specific Evaluations in the Natura 2000 Network in Spain
This presentation will explore the relationship between regional PAME assessments and the potential need for site-specific evaluations, particularly in the context of the Natura 2000 network. It will examine how these different levels of assessment relate to one another and consider the role of site-specific evaluations in assessing management effectiveness. The presentation aims to provide insights into this relationship and its relevance for Protected Area management across Europe.
Moderator
Neil McIntosh
Project Manager for LIFE PAME-Europe at EUROPARC Federation
Organised and funded by:
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can attend the webinars?
Our webinars are targeted at Protected Area professionals and anyone interested in the topic. They are a platform for technical discussions, where experts and professionals can share their own experiences with the wider community.
Are the webinars recorded?
Yes, all EUROPARC webinars are recorded and can be found on our website under Training and Events, as well as on our YouTube channel @EUROPARC. Once you have registered, you will receive an email notification for when the recording is published for viewing.
What is the EUROPARC Federation?
The EUROPARC Federation is Europe’s largest network of Protected Area professionals. Established out of curiosity and a shared desire to learn from one another, we have been connecting people and Parks for over 50 years. Through our projects, events, and flagship programmes, we foster collaboration among experts across Europe, helping them enhance their work in nature conservation and sustainable management. Explore our infographics below to learn more about our programmes, or visit our website at www.europarc.org and see how you can get involved!
What is LIFE PAME-Europe?
LIFE PAME-Europe is a EUROPARC-led project. With support from experts and Pilot Sites across Europe the project aims to develop a Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) framework for Europe that harmonises with existing national and international systems.
Get all the information on the EUROPARC website here.