Section 1<strong>important</strong> <strong>areas</strong> for <strong>plant</strong>s by 2010. National IPA projects can assist governments tomeet this target.IPAs are also closely l<strong>in</strong>ked with the conservation aims of the Pan-European Biological<strong>and</strong> L<strong>and</strong>scape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS), the Pan-European Ecological Network(PEEN), the Bern Convention <strong>and</strong> the Emerald Network, the EU Biodiversity Strategy,the EU Habitats Directive <strong>and</strong> the Natura 2000 network, the EU Water FrameworkDirective, the Aarhus Convention on public participation <strong>in</strong> environmental decisionmak<strong>in</strong>g,the RAMSAR Convention on Wetl<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>and</strong> conservation monitor<strong>in</strong>g projectssuch as the IEBI 2010. Detailed <strong>in</strong>formation on how IPAs l<strong>in</strong>k to these programmes canbe found <strong>in</strong> Section 7.Countries <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> this projectAt the end of 2001 the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Agriculture, Nature <strong>and</strong> Food Quality of theNetherl<strong>and</strong>s provided funds to identify IPAs <strong>in</strong> seven countries <strong>in</strong> <strong>central</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>eastern</strong>Europe.These countries are Belarus (with project development <strong>in</strong> Russia <strong>and</strong> the CISregion), the Czech Republic, Estonia, Pol<strong>and</strong>, Romania, Slovakia <strong>and</strong> Slovenia. In thispublication these seven countries are referred to as the partner countries.Plantlife International carries out the role of IPA Secretariat provid<strong>in</strong>g technical<strong>in</strong>formation, database facilities, coord<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>and</strong> adm<strong>in</strong>istration. In each of the sevencountries there is a coord<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g organisation <strong>and</strong> a national team made up of manydifferent <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong> organisations, which carries out the identification of IPAs.Details of the national coord<strong>in</strong>ators <strong>and</strong> teams can be found <strong>in</strong> Section 5.There are also other IPA projects <strong>in</strong> Europe <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> other regions of the world.Turkeywas the first country to complete IPA identification <strong>and</strong> publish its results. IPAidentification projects funded t<strong>hr</strong>ough the Regional Environmental Centre <strong>and</strong>environment m<strong>in</strong>istries have begun <strong>in</strong> south <strong>eastern</strong> Europe <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Bulgaria, Croatia,FYR of Macedonia, Serbia <strong>and</strong> Montenegro. The World Conservation Union, IUCN-CIS,<strong>in</strong> Moscow is develop<strong>in</strong>g IPA project proposals for Russia <strong>and</strong> regions of <strong>eastern</strong> Europe.Other countries <strong>in</strong> Europe have either begun IPA projects or are <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong>develop<strong>in</strong>g them, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g F<strong>in</strong>l<strong>and</strong>, Hungary, Lithuania, Spa<strong>in</strong>, Ukra<strong>in</strong>e, the UnitedK<strong>in</strong>gdom, <strong>and</strong> Mediterranean countries <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Morocco <strong>and</strong> the Lebanon. Otherregions of the world such as southern Africa, south east Asia, <strong>and</strong> New Zeal<strong>and</strong> are alsodevelop<strong>in</strong>g IPA projects <strong>and</strong> details of all these projects <strong>and</strong> the various Europeanprojects can be found <strong>in</strong> Section 5.Methodology for identify<strong>in</strong>g IPAsThe basic pr<strong>in</strong>ciples of IPA identification are based on the presence of one or more ofthe follow<strong>in</strong>g criteria:Criterion ACriterion BCriterion CT<strong>hr</strong>eatened SpeciesBotanical RichnessT<strong>hr</strong>eatened HabitatsThese criteria were first debated <strong>in</strong> the first Planta Europa Conference <strong>in</strong> France <strong>in</strong>1992 <strong>and</strong> have been developed <strong>and</strong> ref<strong>in</strong>ed t<strong>hr</strong>ough a process of workshops <strong>and</strong> writtenconsultations <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g a wide range of specialists from different countries. (A moredetailed explanation is given <strong>in</strong> Section 2)12
IntroductionTransparency is one of the major pr<strong>in</strong>ciples of the IPA project <strong>and</strong> each country mustmake clear its methods <strong>and</strong> the reasons why each IPA has been selected. IPAs may beidentified on protected <strong>and</strong> un-protected l<strong>and</strong>.Summary of the results of this IPA projectOne of the ma<strong>in</strong> strengths of the project has been the high level of cooperation <strong>and</strong>communication among botanists, mycologists <strong>and</strong> specialists <strong>in</strong> the same country <strong>and</strong>across national boundaries. This open communication <strong>and</strong> wide stakeholder <strong>in</strong>volvementwill be essential <strong>in</strong> establish<strong>in</strong>g networks to protect <strong>and</strong> manage IPAs <strong>in</strong> the future.Number <strong>and</strong> area of IPAs:In the seven partner countries 796 Important Plant Areas have been identified to date,cover<strong>in</strong>g an area of 14,739,174 hectares.IPAs <strong>in</strong> <strong>central</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>eastern</strong> Europe13
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