The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in the Nature Park Mont Avic

Best Practice

Topics

• Policies and instruments
• Protected areas

Short description

* Project updated on 9 May 2007 according to information from the project contact persons * The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is the EU voluntary instrument which acknowledges organisations that improve their environmental performance on a continuous basis. EMAS registered organisations are legally compliant, run an environment management system and report on their environmental performance through the publication of an independently verified environmental statement. The Natural Park Mont Avic registered EMAS in May 2003. Since then important improvements of the working processes have been registered. The Park administration is now an example for other enterprises and organisations to certify their management systems.

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Project executive

Natural Park Mont Avic European Union

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Participants

Natural Park Mont Avic

Objectives

In a steadily changing environment consumers and shareholders are increasingly demanding environmentally-friendly products and services that are delivered by socially responsible companies. It is becoming increasingly important for organisations to demonstrate that not only their philosophies but also their investment strategies and day-to-day operations are sustainable. Therefore some of the aims of the EMAS registration are: 1. quality environmental management due to the use of a highly developed scheme; 2. contribution to environmental risk management of the organisation; 3. resource savings and lower costs according to the organisation's needs; 4. reduction of financial burdens due to reactive management strategies such as remediation, cleanups and paying penalties for breach of legislation; 5. financial benefits through better control of operations; 6. incentive to eco-innovate production processes while environmental impacts are rising world-wide; 7. new business opportunities in markets where green production processes are important; 8. added credibility and confidence with public authorities, other businesses and customers / citizens; 9. improved relations with the local community; 10. improved quality of workplaces, employee morale and incentive to team building; 11. marketplace advantage and improved company image by improving stakeholder relations.

Activities

There were no new activities resulting from the EMAS registration. But the Natural Park has improved its working processes and the activities are now carried out with more effectiveness.

Process

To receive EMAS registration the Nature Park has complied with the following steps: 1. conduct an environmental review considering all environmental aspects of the organisation’s activities, products and services, methods to assess these, its legal and regulatory framework and existing environmental management practices and procedures; 2. in the light of the results of the review, establish an effective environmental management system aimed at achieving the organisation’s environmental policy defined by the top management. The management system needs to set responsibilities, objectives, means, operational procedures, training needs, monitoring and communication systems; 3. carry out an environmental audit assessing in particular the management system in place and conformity with the organisation’s policy and programme as well as compliance with relevant environmental regulatory requirements; 4. provide a statement of its environmental performance which lays down the results achieved against the environmental objectives and the future steps to be undertaken in order to continuously improve the organisation’s environmental performance; 5. the environmental review, EMS, audit procedure and the environmental statement must be approved by an accredited EMAS verifier; 6. the validated statement needs to be sent to the EMAS Competent Body for registration in the concerned country and made publicly available.

Results

The Natural Park was certified ISO 14 001 in February 2003 and registered EMAS in May. It was the first protected area in Europe to register the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. A year after the registration the natural Park noticed an improvement on its capacities to lead its institutional activities by guarantying and supporting more efficiently the knowledge, the conservation and protection and the valorisation of its natural and cultural heritage. A significant improvement was notified in the collaboration with other institutions and the local communities. The improvement of this relations was also after the enlargement of the surface of the protected area (+ 2 225 ha) in 2004. In 2004, the year after the registration a higher number of visitor has been registered on the parks website. The park has gained a higher effectiveness due to a better organization of the different working processes. In the field of communication there was a real improvement, the park has improved its capacities to communicate with the public and to spread knowledge. As of May 2007 the EMAS certification has been confirmed until December 2009.

Evaluation

The Natural Park is controlled two times a year by external EMAS controllers. Besides the external control there are different internal controls and evaluations between two and four times a year. A steady control of the application of the EMAS criteria is assured by the staff all the year. The main strategies of the project didn’t change during the implementation phase. The control of the application of the EMAS criteria, anyway, permitted to solve problems during the implementation phase. The most relevant one was cause by the enlargement of the surface of the protected area decided by the Region Val d’Aoste in 2004 with the inclusion of some lateral valleys. This fact obliged the project team to modify the environment management analysis. In 2007 the Nature Park published the new "Environment declaration" (download www.montavic.it), valid for 2006-2009. Its aim is to inform the public about the state of conservation and valorisation of the territory, ecosystems and biodiversity.

Difficulties

In a relatively small institution like the Natural Park, the lack of experience and time obliged the management authorities to engage external consultants for the registration process. The slight dimension of the Natural Park, anyway, was considered as a positive factor. Project management were able not only to assess an efficient recognition of priorities, but also to divided rationally tasks and responsibilities among participants. These decisions could be consider as the main success factor during the implementation phase. In these phase, anyway, the Natural Park encountered insufficient financial resources, but the problem was solved because the Region Val d’Aosta partially covered the shortage.

Financial backer

The EMAS registration was funded by 100% by the Region Val d’Aoste in the frame of the “Rural development plan”. The preparatory phase was completely financed by the Region. In the following phases, the Park itself covered some parts of the project. Now the park still receives a help of 30 and 50% of the funding from the Region.

Source of information

Competition

Participant at the 2005 Future in the Alps competition

Homepage

http://www.montavic.it; www.parks.it ; http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/emas/

Comments

Impact on nature and environment

The aim of the Natural park Mont Avic is to preserve nature, to communicate about environmental issues and to increase public awareness. These aims and the impact of nature and environment they have, haven’t changed. Through the improvement of the working processes the park may assure a more efficient work and improve therefore the impact on environment.

Economic value added

The aim of the Nature Park is not to create an economic value added. But the improvement of the different processes may lead to gain savings.

Socio-cultural value added

The Natural Park is now a example for the region and for other institutions. It has contributed to an export of the EMAS registration idea.

Innovative content

In some Member States environmental instruments (Regulations, Directives, etc.) are the basis for most of the environmental legislation in force. In spite of all the Directives and Regulations adopted by the EC, and the international and national action in this field, environmental quality is still not improving as rapidly as some would hope. On the other hand, for many organisations simple compliance with legislative requirements is only the first step on the path to sustainable development. Reactive management strategies such as remediation, cleanups and paying penalties for breach of legislation incur financial burdens that undermine profitability. Therefore, the benefits of voluntary instruments such as EMAS are becoming more and more obvious. The following three main characteristics are the key to success for the scheme: PERFORMANCE: EMAS is a voluntary environmental management scheme based on a harmonised scheme throughout the European Union with the objective to improve the environmental performance of organisations by committing themselves to evaluate and reduce their environmental impact. TRANSPARENCY: Public information on an organisation’s environmental performance is an important aspect of the scheme’s objective. It is achieved externally through the environmental statement which provides information to the public on the environmental impact and performance of that organisation, and within the organisation through the active involvement of employees in the implementation of the scheme. The EMAS logo which can be displayed on letterheads, environmental statements, and adverts for products, activities and services is an attractive visual tool to demonstrate an organisation’s commitment to improving its environmental performance and indicates the reliability of the information provided. CREDIBILITY: The external and independent nature of the EMAS registration and verification process (competent bodies, accreditation bodies and verifiers under the control of the EU Member States) ensures the public credibility and reliability of the scheme including the environmental management system and the organisation’s information to the public (environmental statement).

Good governance

The EMAS registration is voluntary. The Nature Park decided together with the Region Val d’Aoste about the EMAS registration of the park.

PR impact

The EMAS logo is displayed on all letterheads, environmental statements and adverts for products, activities and services of the Natural Park. After the registration the Park has increased the number of visitors to its website by 160%.

Multiplier effect / networking

Other institutions are planning to follow the example of the Nature Park and start the process of the EMAS registration.

Transferability

Participation in EMAS is open to all companies and all other organisations of the private and public sector which are dedicated to improving their overall environmental performance and which are located in the European Union Member States and the other countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) — Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Other protected areas are already certified ISO 14 001 (for example the Nature Park Adamello Brenta since 2001). In a next step they can register EMAS and get a more official acceptance because EMAS has legal status within Member States, therefore it can take a more prescriptive approach to environmental management issues; the ISO 14000 standards, by contrast, rely on voluntary acceptance by all interested parties, and therefore must maintain a balance between the needs and expectations of each of these parties.

Remarks

Certification ISO 14 001 in February 2003 ; EMAS registration in May 2003

Further information