Deadline: 23-Sep-2025
Applications are now open for the Environment and Climate Action’s Nature and Biodiversity Programme.
Objectives
- Under this topic, projects shall lead to a smart and outcome-based implementation of the EU nature and biodiversity legislation and the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030. Only wild flora and fauna and natural and semi-natural habitats may be targeted. They shall fall under at least one of the two following areas of intervention:
- Intervention area: “Space for Nature”
- Any project aimed at improving the condition of species or habitats through area-based conservation or restoration measures falls within the eligible scope of the intervention area “Space for Nature”. This may include, for example:
- projects restoring or improving natural or semi-natural habitats, or habitats of species, both within and outside existing protected areas;
- projects creating additional protected areas or improving the biodiversity focus and contribution of existing protected areas, through conservation and management measures; projects creating ecological corridors or developing other green infrastructure, enhancing the resilience of the Trans-European Nature Network;
- projects testing or demonstrating new site management approaches,
- projects acting on pressures, both within and outside Natura 2000, affecting EU natural or semi-natural habitats, or habitats of protected species.
- Any project aimed at improving the condition of species or habitats through area-based conservation or restoration measures falls within the eligible scope of the intervention area “Space for Nature”. This may include, for example:
- Intervention area: “Safeguarding the species”
- Any project aimed at improving the condition of species (or, in the case of invasive alien species, reducing their impact) through any relevant activities other than area-based conservation or restoration measures falls within the scope of the intervention area “Safeguarding the species”. Considering the broad range of threats that may act on species in addition to the degradation of their habitats, such projects may apply a wide range of relevant measures spanning from hard infrastructural works to awareness raising of stakeholders.
- Intervention area: “Space for Nature”
Priorities
- Prioritisation of the proposals will be based on the policy priorities below:
- Priorities stemming from EU nature and biodiversity legislation
- Priority is given to proposals for improving the conservation status or trends of species and habitats of EU interest, notably where:
- They are implementing objectives and measures outlined in national or regional Prioritized Action Frameworks (PAFs) under the EU Habitats Directive or national restoration plans under EU Nature Restoration Regulation or in other plans (such as species action plans) or strategies adopted at international, national, regional or multiregional level by nature and biodiversity authorities that implement EU nature and/or biodiversity policy or legislation and that include specific and measurable actions, or targets, with a clear timeline and budget;
- Their activities focus on the implementation of conservation objectives for existing Natura 2000 sites. In the case of territories of EU Member States and associated countries to which the Birds and Habitats Directives do not apply, activities should focus on similar networks of protected areas, notably where such conservation objectives are clearly established, improving the condition of species and habitats for which the sites are designated;
- Their activities focus on reducing the deliberate or accidental killing of the targeted species (e.g., poisoning, illegal killing, by-catch), preventing stakeholder conflicts, improving acceptance and promoting co-existence with protected species.
- In addition, for the proposals addressing invasive alien species, priority is given to the following species:
- The species included in the list of invasive alien species of Union concern pursuant to Article 4(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014, and/or invasive alien species of Member State or regional concern pursuant to Articles 12 and 11 of the Regulation respectively; or
- other invasive alien species that negatively affect the conservation status or trends of species and habitats of EU interest, other species protected under EU legislation, or listed as threatened species in EU or global red lists (the latter for species groups and/or countries and regions not covered by EU red lists).
- Priority is given to proposals for improving the conservation status or trends of species and habitats of EU interest, notably where:
- Priorities stemming from the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
- Priority based on the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 is given to proposals addressing the following objectives:
- Establishing a coherent network of protected areas
- Implementing EU nature restoration targets for species and habitats
- Restoring degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems and/or prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters
- Improving the health and resilience of managed forests
- Reversing the decline of pollinators
- Bringing nature back to agricultural land
- Recreating functional ecosystems and bringing nature back in urban and periurban areas
- Restoring the good environmental status of marine and freshwater ecosystems
- Priority based on the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 is given to proposals addressing the following objectives:
- Priorities stemming from EU nature and biodiversity legislation
Funding Information
- Topic budget: EUR 153 000 000
- Indicative range of project budgets: EUR 2-13 Mln
Duration
- Project duration: between 36 and 84 months indicatively
Eligible Activities
- Scope — Activities that can be funded
- In order to allow for effective comparison of merits of proposals, the following principles will be applied for a first level prioritisation which defines the urgency under the two areas of intervention:
- For proposals targeting species covered by the EU Birds Directive, priority is given to those that are considered as such by the Committee for Adaptation to Technical and Scientific Progress (Ornis Committee) set up pursuant to Article 16 of the same Directive.
- For proposals targeting species and habitats covered by the EU Habitats Directive, priority is given to:
- those that are clearly targeting habitats or species in unfavourable and declining conservation status, in particular when their status is unfavourable bad and declining (U2-) both in the EU and at national biogeographical region(s) level, where the project is taking place,
- projects that strive to minimize conflicts and promote coexistence between humans and large carnivores.
- For species and habitats not covered by EU Nature legislation, priority is given to proposals clearly targeting those that are in higher extinction risk categories (in particular: endangered or worse) in the relevant most recent EU red lists of species and habitats.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme
- the coordinator must be established in an eligible country
For more information, visit EC.