Recommendations for the future of the
ESPC Target implementation (Review 2007)

The fourth section of the questionnaire provided respondents with an opportunity to highlight their views on how to address plant conservation in Europe beyond 2007. A significant majority of respondents believed that a new European strategy, which retained and enhanced linkages with the GSPC was important as a means of facilitating national level implementation of the GSPC in Europe. It was felt that the new strategy to guide plant conservation forward in Europe after 2007 and beyond 2010 should have a longer timeframe (7-10 years) and be ‘simpler’; with fewer but focused targets relevant to European plant conservation needs and easier to monitor .

Principal Recommendations

• Implementing the GSPC targets at a national level
• Developing or implementing a network of small organisations and national/thematic focal points for small scale actions
• Publication of implementation manuals and case studies of successful projects
• Increased engagement with EU conservation and financial policies
• The need for strong institutional engagement to strengthen Planta Europa and implement the EPCS. Over 60% of respondents indicated that a new EPCS required a stronger institutional home than the current Planta Europa network, and if Planta Europa was to remain as a key driver to deliver the EPCS it needed to establish a closer partnership with ‘key’ institutions on a national and European level
• The targets for a new EPCS need to be simpler with concrete milestones and practical guidelines at national level which are more focussed on ‘real conservation’ issues and achievable by the Planta Europa network and its members, rather than relying on external lead organisations