Deadline: 4-Sep-25
The European Commission is accepting proposals for its Strategic Nature Projects to support the achievement of EU nature and biodiversity objectives by implementing coherent programmes of action in Member States in order to mainstream those objectives and priorities into other policies and financing instruments.
Objectives
- Prioritised Action Frameworks (PAF)
- National restoration plans pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and the Council on nature restoration and;
- Other plans or strategies adopted at international, national, regional or multiregional level by nature and biodiversity authorities and intrinsically linked to the implementation of EU nature and/or biodiversity policy or legislation (biodiversity strategy, pollinators initiative, invasive alien species regulation) and which foresee specific and measurable actions, or targets, with a clear timeline and budget.
- Further to the general objectives of SNaPs, the proposal should therefore present information on:
- the expected level of implementation of the target plan as a direct consequence of the actions foreseen in the SNaP or through the complementary actions financed by other means mobilised in parallel to the SNaP;
- the area covered by measures, the number of sites, the relevance of these sites in terms of species and habitat types within their bio-geographical regions;
- the expected improvement of the conservation status of species and habitats with particular attention to those habitats and species that are considered as priority and/or those that have been reported as being in unfavorable conservation status;
- the expected improvement on the long term capacity to monitor and assess the status of species and habitats of EU importance (art 11 and 17 of the Habitats Directive).
Scopes
- A SNAP will not have to cover all actions foreseen in the strategy/plan or ensure that the strategy/plan will be fully implemented during the lifetime of the SNAP. However, the SNAP shall include strategic actions to catalyse a process and mobilise supplementary commitments and funding that will lead, in due time, to the full implementation of the plan or strategy.
- SNAPs shall promote the coordination with and mobilisation of other relevant Union, national or private funding sources for the implementation of the complementary measures or actions outside of the SNAP in the framework of the targeted plan or strategy, giving preference to Union funding. Within the SNAP itself, however, co-funding may not come from other Union funding sources.
- SNAPs shall actively involve the main stakeholders necessary for the implementation of the targeted plan or strategy. They should be involved in both the design and implementation of the given project. This involvement is expected to be achieved by including them – where possible and reasonable – as associated beneficiaries of the SNAP, or through their active participation in the implementation of the SNAP itself and/or of the complementary actions.
- SNAPs should facilitate and result in the building up of strategic capacities among the competent authorities and stakeholders to ensure a long-term sustainability of project results and actions, and to ensure that they will be able to function as co-deliverers of the targeted plan or strategy after the end of the SNAP.
- Depending on the needs of the given Members States (or regions) as identified in their PAFs or in other nature and biodiversity plans (which must be available by the time a SNAP full proposal is submitted), the set of measures to be included in a SNAP programme of actions shall include the following:
- institutional support and capacity building actions;
- mobilisation and coordination of additional finance for complementary actions, in particular from other EU funding instruments and programmes.
- In addition, SNAPs:
- should also include concrete conservation and restoration measures, in particular where these cannot be supported through other EU funding programmes;
- shall also work to change (when applicable) the rules for other funds or adapting other policies/actions which might be leading to failure of the target plan/strategy.
Funding Information
- The estimated available call budget is EUR 158 000 000.
- Topic Budget: EUR 72 million
- Indicative range of project budgets: EUR 10-30 million
- Indicative expected project duration: 60 – 120 months
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.
Ineligibility Criteria
- Applicants which are subject to an EU exclusion decision or in one of the following exclusion situations that bar them from receiving EU funding can NOT participate:
- bankruptcy, winding up, affairs administered by the courts, arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or other similar procedures (including procedures for persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- in breach of social security or tax obligations (including if done by persons with unlimited liability for the applicant’s debts)
- guilty of grave professional misconduct (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- committed fraud, corruption, links to a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism-related crimes (including terrorism financing), child labour or human trafficking (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations under an EU procurement contract, grant agreement, prize, expert contract, or similar (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- guilty of irregularities within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Regulation No 2988/95 (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- created under a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or other legal obligations in the country of origin or created another entity with this purpose (including if done by persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control, beneficial owners or persons who are essential for the award/implementation of the grant)
- intentionally and without proper justification resisted an investigation, check or audit carried out by an EU authorising officer (or their representative or auditor), OLAF, the EPPO, or the European Court of Auditors.
- Applicants will also be rejected if it turns out that:
- during the award procedure they misrepresented information required as a condition for participating or failed to supply that information
- they were previously involved in the preparation of the call and this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise (conflict of interest).
For more information, visit EC.