This EEA technical report was authored by Ecologic Institute and aims to improve the knowledge base on different realities of national protected area management. Based on a semi-structured survey conducted in 12 Member States, the report showcases individual national approaches and practices, as well as challenges and successes in the management of protected areas.

This report is complementary to the third edition of the State of Nature report, which describes the state of nature in the EU based on reports from Member States under the Birds (2009/147/EC) and the Habitats (92/43/EEC) Directives for the period 2013-2018. It details the methodologies applied in the current State of Nature report, complementing the reporting guidelines for the Member States.

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) published their landmark report on the state of nature in the EU on 19 October 2020, representing the most comprehensive assessment of the status of European nature and biodiversity to date. The State of Nature 2020 provides invaluable insights about the impact of conservation measures that have been applied as well as remaining gaps. The findings indicate that the majority of Europe's biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming rate, threatening the survival of thousands of animal species and habitats.

The goal of the European Environment Agency's European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD) is to collect and monitor data on biodiversity, as well as issues and ecological pressures related to biodiversity. This data is used to establish the state of Europe's ecosystems to support the assessment, development, and implementation of EU policies such as the Nature Directives and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. Ecologic Institute is supporting the ETC/BD since 2014 with data collection and assessment on ecosystem status and trends, policy analysis, and monitoring. Ecologic Institute is also conducting multiple assessments to contribute to the European Environment Agency's assessment reports.