Deadline: 06-Oct-21
The European Commission has announced the applications to support the Development of a Coherent and Resilient Trans-European Nature Network.
Scope
- The EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 addresses the on-going biodiversity decline through an EU Nature Protection and Restoration Plan across land and sea, including through the deployment of a truly coherent TEN-N increasing and interconnecting the current network of protected areas.
- The strategy includes key commitments for 2030 for legally protecting a minimum of 30% of the EU’s land area and 30% of the EU’s sea area and strictly protecting one third of the EU’s protected areas, including all remaining EU primary and old-growth forests.
- Additionally, setting up and integrating ecological corridors will be important to prevent genetic isolation, allowing for species migration and dispersal, and for maintaining and enhancing healthy ecosystems.
- This is particularly relevant for increasing resilience of the network with respect to climate change.
- The successful proposal should set up a strategic plan to support national authorities in identifying and selecting the relevant priority areas for EU land protection and the set-up of ecological corridors.
- It should be built on the existing EU network of protected areas and based on the EU Guidance to Member States, referred in the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030.
Funding Information
Grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000 except for:
- public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
- cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).
Expected Outcomes
- Contributing to the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, this topic aims to give support to building a coherent and resilient trans-European nature network (TEN-N) of protected areas, including through the set-up of ecological corridors, thereby contributing to the protection and restoration of ecosystems and their services in Europe.
- Successful proposals are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:
- Development of a coherent and resilient trans-European nature network of protected areas, by supporting Member States on the key commitments for protecting at least 30% of EU land area, and strictly protecting at least 10% of EU land area.
- Setting up of ecological corridors – within and outside the network – to prevent genetic isolation, allowing for species migration including the response to climate change, and maintaining and enhancing healthy ecosystems, and delivering multiple ecosystem services.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any legal entity, regardless of its place of establishment, including legal entities from non-associated third countries or international organisations (including international European research organisations) is eligible to participate (whether it is eligible for funding or not), provided that the conditions laid down in the Horizon Europe Regulation have been met, along with any other conditions laid down in the specific call topic.
- A ‘legal entity’ means any natural or legal person created and recognised as such under national law, EU law or international law, which has legal personality and which may, acting in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity without legal personality.
- To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e:
- the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
- the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
- eligible non-EU countries:
- countries associated to Horizon Europe
- low- and middle-income countries
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