Every year the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung generously hosts EUROPARC members, in their excellent centre in Gut Siggen, North Germany. Here, we enjoy an intense and practically orientated seminar, examining and sharing expertise in a given aspect of Protected Areas work. You can find previous Siggen Seminars here.
This year, we will dive into our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and discover how we can achieve more effective management. The EU Biodiversity Strategy set an ambitious target for 2030, with at least 30% of the sea area to be legally protected (with 10% to be strictly protected) by 2030. It clearly identifies the urgency to ensure that all Protected Areas across Europe are effectively managed, with the realisation of conservation objectives and appropriate monitoring. As such, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have an important role to play and are called to make a serious effort to improve their effectiveness.
But what do MPAs need to do to reach this target, and how can progresses be monitored and assessed? What guidance, tools and methods would be helpful to improve the management of our MPAs?
With this seminar we offer a great opportunity for MPA managers and staff from across Europe to jointly explore those aspects: starting from the EU policy framework we will analyse concrete MPA case studies, looking at processes that underpin management, conservation outputs and tools to monitor and assess progresses.
Get more information from the Draft Programme: | 
