What makes for a successfully managed Natura 2000 site? A Natura 2000 Award Environmental Benchmarking Report has been published, which analyses the entries to the 2014 Natura 2000 Award to find the commonly recurring elements in these entries. These have been distilled into a list of the top 10 elements for best practice:

1. Attracting new actors;
2. Involving all stakeholders;
3. Starting from a sound situation analysis;
4. Promoting conceptual and technical innovation;
5. Looking beyond individual sites;
6. Realising socio-economic benefits;
7. Planning sustainability from the start;
8. Mobilising a wide range of resources;
9. Measuring and communicating success;
10. Learning, knowledge sharing and communication as core project components.

You can read more about each of the top tips in the Environmental Benchmarking Report.