Synergies and Conflicts Between Water Framework Directive and Natura 2000: Legal Requirements, Technical Guidance and Experiences from Practice - Wetlands and Water Framework Directive: Protection, Management and Climate Change - page 24

investigated and showed that in Germany various forms of sensitivity were
expected for 60 % of the 90 species considered. Thus, in addition to very ben-
e

cial effects for the development of semi-natural biotopes, there may be con-

fl flicts involving, in particular, changes in location, loss of area and changes in the

open-land biotopes and habitats of the cultural landscape or secondary biotopes.
In both cases it is important to ensure a firm and timely coordination between

nature conservation and water management in relation to Natura 2000 at sub-
sequent planning stages. This is particularly so because the highly abstract nature
of the spatial locations of measures given in the programmes of measures limits
the conclusions that can be drawn from these sources. It is thus impossible at
present to determine the extent to which con fl icts in objectives have already been

resolved or the extent to which the potential of complimentary

objectives has been deliberately exploited. Water management should therefore
involve nature conservation as thoroughly and promptly as possible in measures
for Natura 2000 sites or measures which in

— especially —

uence Natura 2000 sites, and thus
ensure compatibility with the conservation objectives of Natura 2000 sites. At the
same time it is to be recommended that measures having positive effects from the
perspective of both the WFD and the Habitats or birds directives should be
prioritised, also in terms of implementation. Lower Saxony, for instance, pro-
vides an example of how measures can be prioritised in consideration of Natura
2000 sites. One criterion for prioritizing measures for the improvement of hy-
dromorphology and river continuity was their location within water dependent
habitats protected by the HD (Hofmann and Schmidt 2012 , p. 219 f.).
3. Further development of management plans for Natura 2000 sites.
In many cases, management plans for the Natura 2000 sites were not completed
at the

fl

first phase of WFD management planning. This means that the objectives
of the protected areas could not be assessed for compatibility. Therefore, HD
management plans should be further developed so that they contain conserva-
tion objectives in a form appropriate for use by management planning. On the
one hand, this would enable the timely consideration of nature conservation
issues during WFD implementation. On the other hand, functionally and spa-
tially speci c conservation objectives for the Natura 2000 sites can be seen as a

further WFD objective (WFD Art. 4 para. 2); thus it is recommended that
management plans for the water-dependent Natura 2000 sites should be urgently
developed at an appropriate level of speci cation (Stratmann et al. 2012a ,

p. 308). In this way groundwater levels and qualities relevant to the protection or
development of groundwater-dependent terrestrial ecosystems within the Natura
2000 network can also be stipulated by nature conservation and integrated into
WFD implementation. These speci

c stipulations are also a concrete step
towards satisfying the prohibition on deterioration and thus meeting the
objectives of the WFD for groundwater bodies on which terrestrial ecosystems
depend.
Cooperation of water management and nature conservation in practical imple-
mentation: The example of the “ Landshuter Modell ” .