Stakeholder Participation in Planning of the Protected Natural Areas: Slovenia

The participation of stakeholders in the planning of protected natural areas is growing significantly. It enhances their trust in protection aims and management measures. Limited time and finances, however, often reduce the impact of stakeholder participation on the level of information and education, thus usually resulting in insufficient implementation of choices regarding nature conservation. The article describes the main stages of stakeholder participation planning, thus enabling us to determine the identity of key stakeholders, the planned participation level and the methods used to achieve it. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the participation of stakeholders and the public in the planning of protected areas in Slovenia is carried out using two examples: the founding of the Regional Park Snežnik and the shaping of the Natura 2000 areas. Stakeholder participation and communication while founding the Regional Park Snežnik was a planned one. However, the foundation was terminated before it was accomplished and one of the reasons was a decreasing public support of the park. The shaping of the Natura 2000 network was accompanied by a vast communicative project dealing with the problem of how to approach numerous stakeholders in a short period of time given. The article presents the reasons why the implementation of Natura 2000 in Slovenia progresses slowly and the guidelines for its improvement.