Deadline: 11-Aug-23
The Biodiversity Fund is seeking applications to support projects by private individuals, organizations (e.g. NGOs), companies, municipalities and other legal entities.
The Biodiversity Fund is generally aimed at maintaining, improving and restoring biological diversity in Austria by supporting measures to implement the national biodiversity strategy in addition to the scope of the common agricultural policy or the Austrian forest fund.
Only projects in Austria that contribute to this are eligible for funding to close identified gaps in a nationwide biodiversity monitoring and can thus be assigned to the following project category:
- “Projects to collect and assess the status and trends of the Biodiversity in Austria”:
- Collection of data (preferably nationwide or nationally), which is subsequently used to evaluate the headline indicators can become.
- Gaps in existing monitoring systems of relevant Conclude biodiversity data versus headline indicators.
- The procedure used should already be compatible with the methods existing monitoring systems as far as possible and complement them.
- Conduct or continue ongoing biodiversity surveys that can be used to evaluate the headline indicators. The networking of ongoing biotope mapping is desirable.
Objectives
- Within the entire funding period up to 2026, there are various funding priorities. In the course of the second call for proposals, the Biodiversity Fund is supporting projects with the following objectives:
- Projects to record and evaluate the status and trends of biodiversity in Austria
- Only projects in Austria that contribute to closing identified gaps in nationwide biodiversity monitoring are eligible for funding.
- The present headline indicators of the Federal Environment Agency provide information on the existing monitoring gaps.
Funding Information
- A total of 20 million euros in funding is available as part of the 2nd call for proposals.
- De minimis funding: up to 100% (de minimis funding is significant subsidies totaling max. EUR 200,000 that a single company may receive in a period of three years)
- The duration of the projects from submission is specified in the funding contract, an interim report must be submitted by the end of 2024, and all projects must be implemented and invoiced by the end of October 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
- Both natural and legal persons and partnerships in Austria are eligible to apply and receive funding.
- Information and data collected through the project are on Mandatory to make available free of charge on request of the BMK in a generally accessible data format.
- Participation in network meetings that may be held for information and data exchange is required.
- The professional suitability of the applicant must be proven.
- The application language is German.
What requirements must be met in order to be able to apply for funding?
- The application for funding must be submitted before the first legally binding order for services, before delivery, before the start of construction or before any other obligation.
- The planning and implementation of the measures must be carried out by authorized and competent persons or companies.
- The funding applicant must have all relevant permits.
- The funding applicant is obliged to start implementing the measure within one year of the funding being assured.
- Compliance with the provisions of public procurement law is another requirement.
- From a project volume of 1 million euros, compliance with all specifications for events (“green events”), for products and services (eco-label) and for public procurement (action plan for sustainable public procurement) must be guaranteed. The application of these specifications is recommended for all smaller project volumes.
For more information, visit Biodiversity Fund.