Transboundary Nature Conservation


About the webinar

On October 8, 2024, a webinar titled Transboundary Nature Conservation: Engaging Decision-Makers, Communities, and Media in a United Approach took place, focusing on the essential collaboration needed for effective conservation across borders. The session highlighted the increasing significance of transboundary cooperation as environmental challenges often extend beyond national boundaries.

The discussions covered the role of media in influencing public perception and raising awareness about transboundary conservation issues. Participants explored how the media can help shape policy and enhance community understanding of these challenges.

The engagement of decision-makers was also emphasised, with insights into how policymakers and international organisations, such as the European Commission and AEBR, can promote cooperation and address barriers to cross-border conservation efforts.

Furthermore, the webinar provided practical strategies for ensuring active participation from local communities in safeguarding shared natural resources.

Overall, the session underscored the importance of a united approach involving decision-makers, communities, and media to strengthen conservation initiatives effectively.


Programme:

Simona Pohlová, DG Regio, European Commission

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Simona Pohlova made a presentation on DG REGIO’s work regarding territorial cooperation. The presentation highlighted the significance of Interreg within the broader framework of Cohesion funding, which totalled €331 billion to promote European Territorial Cooperation. For the 2021-2027 programming period, Interreg is allocated €10 billion, encompassing 86 cross-border, transnational, inter-regional, and outermost region programmes.

Interreg operates under shared management with common rules and objectives but emphasises international partnerships. It integrates external cooperation and recently suspended collaboration with Russia and Belarus due to geopolitical tensions. Interreg aims to achieve several EU objectives, such as fostering a competitive economy, promoting a greener low-carbon transition, enhancing connectivity, and encouraging social inclusion.

Notably, Interreg committs at least 30% of its funding to environmental goals in alignment with the EU Green Deal. Specific projects covered included WASTEREDUCE, which focuses on waste reduction in Natura 2000 areas, and RE-ENFORCE, which aims to restore degraded forests in Central Europe through transnational strategies. Both projects exemplify Interreg’s dedication to addressing environmental challenges while fostering cooperation among regions.

Additional questions asked to Simona Pohlova during the webinar:

How can policymakers better integrate local communities into formal transboundary conservation policies to ensure more sustainable and inclusive outcomes?

Cohesion policy/Interreg offers a number of tools to engage local communities in the policy-making: Community-led local development, people-to-people, Small Projects Funds and small-scale projects under Interreg. Inspiring examples on how regions involve citizens were presented during the High-level session “Regions strenghtening European democracy” – I recommend the participants to watch it to get more insights.


Ana Nikolov, Head of AEBR Balkans Office

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Ana Nikolov spoke on the AEBR (Association of European Border Regions) with respect to the Balkans. Established in 1971, AEBR comprises around 100 members and aims to represent the common interests of border and cross-border regions both inside and outside the European Union. Its mission involves identifying obstacles to cooperation and promoting exchanges between stakeholders to enhance cross-border cooperation (CBC) and territorial development while respecting regional diversity. The AEBR opened an office in the Balkans in 2014.

The organisation faces several challenges in nature conservation, including the need for cross-border trust-building, comparable data on cross-border regions, and a solid institutional framework for cooperation. Nikolov therefore emphasised the inclusion of the local population and the knowledge of cross-border tools. She later spoke on the legislative frameworks, which included various bilateral and multilateral agreements, such as the Tara River Commission and the Sava River Commission.

Throughout its efforts, the AEBR established 43 cross-border structures in the Balkans, with 18 actively developing in areas with shared environmental and cultural resources. The KEEP database recorded 309 nature conservation projects involving 1,953 partners and 2,246 partnerships, further supporting cross-border public services like the transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube.”


James Fahn, Executive Director, Earth Journalism Network

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James Fahn presented on the role of environmental journalism in transboundary nature conservation. He emphasised the importance of establishing networks of environmental journalists globally, such as Mekong Matters and the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists. The presentation highlighted the need for regional environmental news platforms to showcase cross-border stories and advocated for collaborative investigative reporting projects.

Fahn discussed strategies for engaging communities and policymakers, including conducting assessments of local news consumption and dispelling misinformation. He provided examples where environmental journalism led to significant policy changes in countries like Colombia and Uganda.

Despite challenges such as high reporting costs and limited access to data, the potential for impactful reporting remained strong. Fahn concluded by outlining best practices for conservation organisations to effectively collaborate with journalists, stressing the need for accurate information and community engagement. EJN’s mission focused on strengthening local journalism to address climate and environmental issues, achieving notable success in training and supporting journalists since 2017.

Additional questions asked to James Fahn during the webinar:

In your presentation, you discussed the influence of media on shaping public perception regarding transboundary conservation. How do you see the role of social media evolving in this space compared to traditional media?

Social media plays an important and growing role in providing information on all kinds of environmental and climate issues. Unfortunately, a lot of it is misinformation or even disinformation, which greatly reduces trust in the media and hampers progress. But social media can also be a great platform to spread news about the importance of transboundary conservation and about solutions to help bring it about. We can work with content creators to help make sure their information is accurate, and they can help traditional journalists to make their news more compelling.

You highlighted the importance of investigative reporting for environmental causes. How can journalists ensure the impact of their stories goes beyond just awareness to actually influencing policy changes?

I’d encourage people to check out EJN’s research report on this topic: Improving Outcomes Through the Media. Journalists cannot ensure that stories influence policy change, but we know that their providing news and raising awareness is vital to informing good policy. Some things that tend to increase the influence of media stories include when journalists follow up on stories and keep it alive in the news, when it is picked up by numerous outlets – which can also happen through purposeful collaborations – and when other sectors of civil society also use their influence to boost the news, for instance through various forms of advocacy.


Martin Starý, Head of Nature Conservation Department, Šumava National Park

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Martin Starý presented on community involvement in transboundary nature conservation in the Bohemian Forest during a EUROPARC webinar. He highlighted the region’s unique natural landscape along the former Iron Curtain, focusing on cross-border cooperation initiatives between Germany and the Czech Republic.

Starý described various cross-border public relations activities, such as educational meetings for school classes and the creation of joint field guides and brochures. He detailed several Interreg projects aimed at enhancing biodiversity and water management, which included establishing a socio-economic monitoring system in Šumava National Park and developing cross-border red deer management strategies amid climate change. The total budget for these initiatives exceeded €9 million.

The presentation also touched on the long-term National Park Partner Programme, which has been in place since 1999, and the ongoing LIFE for MIRES project aimed at restoring mires and wetlands over 2,059 hectares, with a total budget of €6 million. Starý emphasised the importance of community engagement and awareness in conservation efforts, demonstrating how activities such as stream restoration contribute to flood mitigation.

Additional questions asked to Martin Starý during the webinar:

The Bohemian Forest lies along the former Iron Curtain, an area with a unique historical context. How has this history influenced transboundary cooperation between the Czech Republic and Germany in nature conservation?

The common history is one of the most important connecting links because it works with the existing relationship of people to the Šumava landscape. Relatives or descendants of displaced Sudeten Germans actively help us to present history together. Examples of this include the cross-border marked trail system called “nature and time trails” or the outdoor historical photography project – the “Šumava history album”. At the same time, local volunteers actively help with activities on the ground.

 

What steps have been taken to improve cross-border public transportation within the national park, and how has this influenced visitor numbers and environmental impact?

Creating a public transport system in national parks has not been easy. In the early days, it involved both initiative and financial support from the National Park Authorities. Gradually, the organisation and financing was transferred in whole or in part to the regional regional authorities.Unfortunately, we do not have relevant data for a good comparison of visitor numbers before the introduction of the cross-border bus system. In fact, the system of comparable monitoring of attendance only started at a time when public transport was already in operation.

 

 

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