A short review

From 18th till 20th May 2009 the Ministry of Defence and the Agency for Nature and Forests organised the second international symposium of LIFE project DANAH: ‘NATURE in DEFENCE: back to life – after LIFE’. The program consisted of a varied mix of presentations, terrain visits and workshops.

With the end of LIFE project DANAH in sight, both project partners presented the major results of this ambitious nature restoration project on twelve military domains in Flanders to an international expert public with specific experiences in nature- and environmental projects on military domains. Not less than fifty guests from fifteen different countries, with a military and/or ecological background, participated to the symposium together with fifty people from the MOD of Belgium and the Agency for Nature and Forests. (download the participant list) The latter group consisted of people that actually helped to realise the project during the past five years. We hope this conference inspired and motivated them to continue their efforts on these military domains.

Therefore the remaining challenges for the future after LIFE were discussed during the symposium. It is without any doubt the intention of the project partners to keep the cooperation sustainable after the LIFE project DANAH.  Solutions for clever sustainable management of large scale military heath lands and practical management plans that integrate ecological and military goals and possible partnerships were sought after. Therefore the central conference themes were management – planning – partnership.

Fifteen international expert speakers presented their experiences within these themes, and inspired the discussions during the workshops by delivering ‘burning issues’. (download presentations) Within the workshops some usable and practical solutions for a sustainable future cooperation after LIFE were found after an open-minded discussion. (download the major conference conclusions)