Can Natura 2000 Sites Benefit from River Basin Management Planning Under a Changing Climate? Lessons from Germany - Wetlands and Water Framework Directive: Protection, Management and Climate Change - page 36

Climate change is named as a basis for all or nearly all the baseline scenarios of
water uses in the management plans. But so far climate change is said to have no
in

first phase of management planning
(Stratmann et al. 2012b , p. 112). Therefore, climate change effects did not in

fl uence on questions of water uses in the

uence
environmental costs for species and habitat types in Germany, but this might
change in the next phases of management planning.

fl

Aspects and consequences of the planning of measures for Natura 2000 sites

￿

As reference conditions for ecologically sound surface waters, the WFD uses
waters largely undisturbed by humans, and thus formulates guiding principles that
assume and promote self-driven processes and developments up to and including
biocenoses speci c to the individual water body type. It can therefore be assumed

that the retention and development of natural and near-natural biocenoses in and on
water bodies will bene

t from far-reaching synergies between Natura 2000 and the

WFD measures.
Nature conservation in Natura 2000 sites is concerned not only with the pro-
tection, management and development of natural biocenoses and habitats, but also
in some cases with the protection of anthropogenically in

uenced biocenoses and
the conservation and development of habitats and species of cultural landscapes. In
addition, there are secondary biotopes that have developed in a fashion atypical to
their locations following human intervention. These may be contrary to the process
orientation of the WFD and its reference conditions for good ecological status, i.e.,
undisturbed by human activity. Con

fl

icts in the implementation of Natura 2000 and
the WFD could occur here and would need to be resolved (Hofmann and Schmidt
2012 , p. 195 et seq.).
Key to achieving a good status for surface waters is the removal of hydro-
morphological impairments within the framework of the planning of measures in
accordance with the WFD. Straightened river courses, cut-off side channels and
fl

fl

floodplains that have been isolated by dykes are to be dealt with, for instance, by
measures intended to improve aquatic habitats by adapting river courses, banks and
beds, measures to initiate or allow the development of self-sustaining dynamic
rivers, or measures to improve habitats within the development corridor (including
the

floodplain) of the water course. As well as the very positive effects of this in
terms of natural water conditions, however, the use of such measures may lead to
somewhat negative effects for species and habitats that are more culturally deter-
mined and for secondary biotopes that have developed atypically for their locations.
Critical in this context are effects that lead to successive vegetation change on and
around the waters towards vegetation types that are potentially natural today.
Equally critical are changes to restore river regimes and the water logging or drying
up of secondary biotopes. Furthermore, the reconnection of cut-off side channels,
for instance, can end previous isolation from predators or illness (Hofmann and
Schmidt 2012 , p. 196 et seq.).
About 90 species from Annex II of the HD are relevant to surface waters or

fl

fl floodplains. Of these, it is predicted that about 40 % will either be positively

affected by the measures of the management plans and programmes of measures, or