Gamtosauginio audito vaidmuo gamtotvarkos procese

Abstract

The growth in the number and coverage of protected areas worldwide represents the great importance of conservation in global environmental policy. Nonetheless, many studies emphasize the fact that protected areas are inadequately designed and ineffectively managed.Numerous methodologies are developed in order to measure the effectiveness of the management of protected areas adapted to different regions. Thus far, the literature on protected area assessments still lacks a unifying theoretical structure and a consistent overall approach to nature conservation auditing.The role of nature management in global environmental policy and its aim to implement the real protection of natural values are discussed in the paper. The idea to implement the audit of protected sites under the management plans is new in Lithuania. There is no scientific and practical literature on this issue. As stated by foreign researchers, such a kind of audit is a review of the planning (conceptualization, actions, monitoring and evaluation), execution/implementation (activities, monitoring and analyses), and, if applicable, the results (impacts, outcomes, and iterations) of a conservation project or program. What is more, they highlight that a regular audit as an essential part of such systems can help achieve better management results. The analysis of nature management processes on global, regional and local scales is carried out taking into account the ideas and practical experience of foreign research and nature protection professionals.By a case study of the investigated nature management process, the role of control as a concurrent of strategic processes is grounded. The significance of nature protection auditis assessed in the context of the outlines of nature protection policy. The theoretical and empirical methodology of investigation is elaborated. A survey of the opinions of the officers of governmental bodies of the Republic of Lithuania and the staff of NGOs on the amendment of nature management process is carried out.At the end of this paper, the possibilities of partnership are evaluated and the recommendations for nature management as well as the approaches leading towards the effectiveness of its process are formulated.