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Based on work by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) on the effectiveness of measures to ensure continuous ecological functionality (CEF) (RUNGE et al. 2010), the Ministry for Environment of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has initiated the development of a guideline on the “ Effectiveness of species conservation measures for the consideration of measures required under species protection law in North Rhine-Westphalia" (MKULNV & FÖA 2013). This serves to standardise the assessment of the species-specific suitability and effectiveness of CEF measures for a large part of planning-relevant species in NRW. Since there was still need to supplement requirements for evidence of the effectiveness of measures initiated under species protection law and concerning consistent design of risk management for these measures, this guideline has been supplemented by a “Manual of Methods for Species Protection Assessments in North Rhine-Westphalia – Survey and Monitoring" (MKULNV & FÖA 2017). Regarding the legal framework, standards developed in the two guidelines for NRW will be presented. Questions being addressed include which species conservation measures require monitoring, as well as how the selection of methods and the procedure can be standardised in practice. The methodology, criteria and results can essentially be transferred to other German federal states – provided that respective (state-specific) particularities are considered and the corresponding assessment is adjusted if deemed necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within an appropriate assessment, the treatment of typical species of habitat types protected under Annex I of the Habitats Directive has received little attention so far. Due to this, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia developed the guideline “Consideration of natural habitats and their typical species during the appropriate assessment in North Rhine-Westphalia", which is described in this document. The paper describes the approach for the selection of typical species for the 44 habitat types occurring in North Rhine-Westphalia. With regard to the so far enclosed dispensation of justice, the selection of typical species in consideration of various criteria (core area of occurrence, degree of bond, and function as habitat/structure creator) was conducted. Within the appropriate assessment, only those typical species of the group with assigned habitat type should be regarded that occur within the Natura 2000 site and that show sensitivity towards the construction- relevant impacts. Furthermore, a method for assessing significant impacts on the habitat types as a consequence of the impairment of the typical species is proposed and tools developed in this context are explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]