Knowledge Hub

If you prefer you can browse among the different resources we have for the topic "Biodiversity Conservation":

Case studies

Spawning area for fish with a water regulator in Matsalu, Estonia

Less water in the spring caused the lagoon in the Estonian Matsalu National Park to disappear. To solve this, an ancient road was transformed into a dam with water regulators.…

Nest&Climb: a participatory monitoring of birds’ nests in climbing areas

Nest&Climb is a project developed in the Haute-Savoie département and funded by the French Biodiversity Office (OFB) that aims at education and raising climbers’ awareness on bird species they share…

New ways for the blue outdoor recreational life

Skjoldungernes land National park (DK), Kosterhavet National park (SE) and Raet National Park (NO) worked on a project supported by The Nordic Council in 2019-2020. The project was based on…

Designing specific trails to reduce the impact of mountain biking on habitats and wildlife in the Minett region of Luxembourg

Several former open-cast mining sites (abandoned in the late 70’s) in the Minett Region of Luxembourg are now fully protected (6 nature reserves / 3 Natura 2000 sites / 1…

LiFE in Quarries

The objective of the Life in Quarries project is to develop, manage and maintain the hosting capacity of biodiversity of active quarries in Belgium. The originality of the project is…

Graubünden’s parks create space for animals and plants

As part of the Green Infrastructure Pilot Project, the Parks in Graubünden have worked closely with the Canton on 18 issues related to habitat status and improvement needs.

Without pesticides campaign

The “Without pesticides” campaign has been advocating a total ban on all pesticides nationwide in Luxembourg since 2009. The starting-point was the voluntary decision not to use pesticides in upkeep…

Maintenance programme for the conservation and renaturation of orchard meadows. Survey of fruit variety diversity

Orchard meadows are among the most valuable and species-rich habitats in the Mëllerdall Nature and Geopark. The Bongerten maintenance programme (Bongerten is the Luxembourg word for orchard meadows) has already…

Bat Tunnel Vennbahn / Luxembourg, Belgium Finalist of the Natura 2000 Award 2018 Category: Reconciling interests / perception

The Vennbahn is a railway which connected Aachen in Germany to Troisvierges in Luxembourg. The last train ran on this line in the 1960s. Since then, the tunnel was unused.…

INTERREG Europe NIGHT LIGHT Improving regional policies to reduce light pollution and protect and valorise dark night skies.

NIGHT LIGHT Project partners: – Province of Fryslân – Lead Partner – Hajdú-Bihar County Government (HU) – Avila County Council (ES) – Nature Park Our (LU) – Samsø Energy Academy…

Finnish National Urban Parks (NUP) – tool for promoting biodiversity in urban areas

The Finnish National Urban Park (NUP) Concept is a tool for promoting biodiversity in urban areas. It helps to build cities in a more sustainable way, protecting nature and green…

Increasing knowledge about butterfly sites and reinforcing habitat protection of rare species in Tzoumerka National Park

Butterflies are good indicators of ecological conditions and can be used to assess change and inform site managers for decision-making. All over Greece, butterfly diversity is very rich and many…

Bats conservation & management of Gypsum habitats in Emilia-Romagna

The project was in general aimed at preserving the environments connected to the presence of gypsum rock and, in particular, the rocky cliffs and their typical pioneer vegetation (habitat 6110…

Implementation of the Biodiversity Strategy Austria 2020+ in Austrian nature parks

In 2011, the European Commission enacted a new strategy to reduce the loss of biological diversity and to improve the condition of European species, habitats, ecosystems, and ecosystem services. The…

Wildnisgebiete und große Prozessschutzflächen in Naturparken (wild areas in German Nature Parks)

Deutschland hat sich das Ziel gesetzt, bis zum Jahr 2020 auf 2 % der terrestrischen Bundesfläche Wildnisgebiete zu realisieren. Naturparke können mit ihrer Infrastruktur und lokalen Netzwerken eine wichtige Rolle…

Promoting Biodiversity – Arrangements and Monitoring of Snake Populations – Analysis and Put in Perspective with Site Attendance

The Ark of Nature is composed almost entirely of plains or wood. The park nevertheless included some brush areas where biodiversity was more important. We have the willingness to study…

The establishment of the 1st Community Managed Marine Protected Area in the Isle of Arran, Scotland

In 2008 Scotland’s first No-Take Zone (NTZ – an area closed to all forms of marine life extraction) was designated off the east coast of the Isle of Arran, covering…

Sustainable management of Pine processionary moth (T. pityocampa) in a protected area using eco-friendly control methods

Caterpillars of pine processionary moth, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, cause serious defoliation to various coniferous trees, particularly pines. In addition, the third instar caterpillars develop urticating setae that produce several health problems…

Plantons Le Décor – Support for the production and sale of local plants

The preservation of landscape biodiversity can be done through the application of ecological engineering and by planting gardens using indigenous plants and heirloom varieties rather than exotic or ornamental species…

Carrying capacity assesment: an overview

Carrying capacity linked to public use in protected areas is a concept that appears and disappears continuously in some references, but few people know exactly what it means. This case…

Involving volunteers in participatory conservation of biodiversity in Rodna Mountains National Park, Romania

The Rodna Mountains National Park was established in 1990 extends across 47.000 ha of the territory, being one important biodiversity hot-spot in the Carpathian mountains. During the period 2004-2017, The Rodna…

Flowering Meadows Contest in France

Flowering meadows are grasslands rich in species, not sown and mowed or grazed to feed the cattle with a floristic diversity that contributes to the production in breeding with a…

Olivares vivos – Each olive tree with its owl

The project aims at implementing environmentally friendly agricultural models in order to guarantee the olive trees groves and also its associated ecosystem services, involving such fundamental processes as pollination, soil…

Pond management for the conservation of amphibians in Collserola Natural Park

Recent decades have seen important declines in amphibian populations around the world, mainly as a response to a combination of factors mostly related to habitat fragmentation, destruction and alteration caused…

Shifting dune management on the Curonian Spit, a coastal UNESCO World Heritage landscape

The Grand Curonian Dune Ridge stretches along the entire length of the Curonian Spit. Currently, there are four strips of shifting white and grey dune habitats still left on the…

The Vitoria-Gasteiz Green Belt: actions for the conservation of biodiversity

The Vitoria-Gasteiz Green belt is made up of a group of parks and areas with high ecological interest surrounding the city. These natural areas are easily accessible on foot. They…

SITXELL – Incorporation of the ecological values of natural spaces to urban and land planning.

SITXELL was conceived as a tool to tackle the absence of a common territorial planning basis for the Barcelona region, the insufficient administrative coordination between departments and administrations, and the…

Protection of a river in the “CASALE” woods – LIPU Oasis – Casacalenda

The action described came from the need to preserve a portion of the Malfiglio stream from external pressures. The stream flows on a border of the reserve, inside a native…

Landscape monitoring in two transboundary parks from Romania and Serbia: Iron Gates Nature Park and Djerdap National Park.

The Iron Gates Nature Park administration implements a monitoring strategy developed in a European project. This activity started in 2015 and the monitoring protocol is applied every three months. The…

Promoting open spaces in a forest park as a means of increasing biodiversity

The loss of habitats diversity causes loss of biodiversity. Due to the expansion of forest, mainly because of abandonment of farming activities, some species depending on open spaces were declining. To…

Project LIFE011/NAT/IT/234 “PRATERIE”

The “Praterie” (i.e. Grasslands) LIFE Project aims at the long-term conservation of grasslands and pastures in the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park (Italy). Premise of the project is…

Webinars

Creating bee-friendly cities: How can we bring pollinators back to our urban areas?

Pollinators like bees are the health check of our ecosystem. As such, their decline in recent years is alarming for numerous reasons. They are a significant component of biodiversity and…

Zukunft gemeinsam gestalten – wie Schutzgebiete durch Kooperationen die Biodiversität fördern

Towards a NO-Plastic Sea: EU policies and Marine Protected Areas actions.

Within the context of the European Green Deal, and in particular the Circular Economy Action Plan and Biodiversity Strategy, this webinar will explore Marine Protected Areas and plastic pollution. We…

Salud, Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas

On the 22 May, over 450 people joined the webinar “Salud, Biodiversidad y Áreas Protegidas”, an event jointly organised by EUROPARC España and Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales as a…

Webinar: Solutions from European Protected Areas (with PANORAMA)

Webinar: Solutions from European Protected Areas As a celebration of the European Day of Parks, EUROPARC and PANORAMA Solutions for a Healthy Planet co-organised a webinar to showcase best practices…

Videos

Benjamin Caspar – EU Policy and Urban Greening Plans

Watch the presentation of Benjamin Caspar, Team Leader of Urban Environment Policy at the European Commission, on the different EU policies that influence Urban Greening. Recorded at the closing conference…

Jacob Cirera Val – The new Barcelona Masterplan

Watch the presentation of Jacob Cirera Val, Area Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB), on the new Barcelona Masterplan. Recorded at the closing conference of the LIFE UrbanGreeningPlans project. The LIFE UrbanGreeningPlans…

A Sustainable Journey – the Film on Sustainable Tourism

A Sustainable Journey has been produced by EUROPARC Federation in the framework of the CEETO Interreg Central Europe project. This 9 minutes short film portrays the story of a traveller…

A European Tour of Junior Rangers: Working for Nature

This documentary is a collection of the activities that some of the 5,000 EUROPARC Junior Rangers, from Italy, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland and United Kingdom carried out in 2016-17.…

Protected areas and Climate Change – Ignace Schops

The President of EUROPARC Federation, Ignace Schops, speaks about the role of protected areas in addressing climate change and how EUROPARC is supporting their work.

News

AND SO IT BEGINS! EUROPEAN NATURE ACADEMY Induction Meeting in Schneverdingen, Germany

From 13 to 17 February, LIFE ENABLE launched the European Nature Academy (ENA). 59 Natura 2000 and Protected Area managers from 24 countries gathered in Schneverdingen, Germany!

Meet the Alfred Toepfer Scholarship Winners 2022!

Every year, the EUROPARC Federation, with the support of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung, awards three scholarships to young professionals working in Protected Areas. Meet the Alfred Toepfer Scholarship Winner 2022…

EUROPEAN NATURE ACADEMY: You can apply NOW!

Are you ready to be enabled and become more effective, competent and confident Natura 2000 and Protected Area managers?! Apply now to be part of the European Nature Academy courses!…

The role of wildlife rehabilitation and breeding centres in species reintroduction programmes

Every year, the Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarship supports the work of young conservationists in Protected Areas across Europe. Réka Szilágyi, was one of the winners of the Scholarship in…

Protected and Conserved Areas Joint Statement on Climate Change and Biodiversity Crises at COP26

The climate and biodiversity crisis are two sides of the same coin, and future generations are paying the price. It is our Parks and Protected Areas that hold the solutions…

International Biodiversity Day: Be part of the solution!

The International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated every year on May 22nd to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year, the celebrations take place under the slogan…

Celebrate the Earth Day 2021: Restore our Earth!

Earth Day is celebrated every year on 22 April. This year, the theme is "Restore Our Earth". Find out how you can participate in the global celebration of our planet…

NEW IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology

Last month the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published its Global Typology of Ecosystems, a comprehensive system for classifying and mapping all ecosystems on Earth. Our planet has…

IUCN report: Climate change is the top threat to natural World Heritage

According to the new report "IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3", climate change now represents the biggest danger to natural World Heritage sites - threatening a third (33%) of these sites.…

A review of Europe’s marine protection

The European Court of Auditors produced an assessment of Marine Protected Areas. Its conclusion? There is work to be done. For many, the end of the year is the time…

Time to restore nature – but where?

A new study published in the magazine "Nature" highlights that restoring nature, is a low-cost and highly effective method to store carbon and battle biodiversity loss. However it strongly depends…

EUROPARC’s Position on the EU Targets for Protected Areas

The new EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy sets ambitious goals to stop biodiversity loss and bring nature back into our lives. Find here EUROPARC's Position Paper on the EU targets for…

IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions

The current environmental and societal challenges call for highly efficient and sustainable solutions. With that in mind, The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently unveiled the Global Standard…

IUCN Guidelines for Ecological Corridors

With biodiversity loss at an all time high, it is time that we restore and reconnect nature. The International Union for Conservation of Nature & the World Commission on Protected…

Case study: Promoting biodiversity in urban areas

The Finnish concept of National Urban Parks (NUP) is promoting biodiversity in urban areas. Urbanisation is a mega trend all over the world. Living in an urban environment offers benefits…

Natura 2000 Day & the Global Coalition for Biodiversity

EUROPARC members are responsible for the management of thousands of Natura 2000 Sites across Europe! On the Natura 2000 Day, we make a special call to all our members to…

Chalk Bed Marine Conservation: lessons from the UK

A case study from the Cromer Shoal Chalk Beds Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), featured in our latest Protected Areas In-Sight Journal, that is available in English, German and French. [caption…

Why do we need old growth forests?

As a result of centuries of logging, firewood gathering and livestock farming, forests in the Mediterranean area, and over a large part of the rest of Europe are mostly young…

Challenges for the new EU Forest Strategy

The European Commission will prepare a proposal for the new EU forest strategy with the objective to propose a coherent policy framework on European Forests. For the moment, the European…

European Commission launches global coalition for biodiversity

On the occasion of the World Wildlife Day (3 March 2020), the European Commission launched a new global coalition for biodiversity conservation in Monaco. The Commission is calling on all…

#EUPollinators: halting the loss of pollinators

“Pollinator species are essential. Their dramatic decrease has been the result of land use and climate change, among other. It is of great importance that all policies concerning agriculture and…

Night vision: a webinar about Dark Sky Parks

Join the next EUROPARC webinar about Dark Sky Parks. Every month, we dedicate a webinar to a special topic for Protected Area professionals. Read more about it here. 80% of…

The role of Protected Areas in the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy

Following the European Commission's public consultation for inputs on the future EU 2030 European Biodiversity Strategy´s objectives and measures, the EUROPARC Federation has contributed, underlining the importance and the role…

[EVENT in Brussels] Outdoor sports and nature conservation, drivers of a healthy, inclusive and sustainable society

After the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by EUROPARC Federation and the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS), the first step of the collaboration was the creation of the 10…

Save the date: European Conference on Ecological Restoration 2020

The 12th European Conference on Ecological Restoration SERE2020 will take place in Alicante (Spain) between August 31 and September 4, 2020. Participants can look forward to discussing challenges facing ecological…

Spreading knowledge about butterflies to protect habitats: a case study from Greece

Butterflies are good indicators of ecological condition. Based on their occurrence, it is possible to assess change and inform site managers for decision-making. All over Greece, butterfly diversity is very…

Restoring semi-natural grassland with landowners and farmers: a case study from Estonia

Alvars are a semi-natural grassland, very limited in their global distribution. One third of them are in Estonia. LIFE to Alvars cooperates with landowners and farmers in order to maintain…

State of Nature 2019 Reports reveal human impacts on wildlife in the UK

The British National Biodiversity Network (NBN) published a series of documents - State of Nature 2019, highlighting links between climate change, nature and sustainability, and revealing how human impacts are…

The Bern Convention celebrates its 40th anniversary

Today, the Bern Convention turns 40 years old. To celebrate this remarkable date, a new campaign was launched to highlight the most inspiring results of 4 decades working for the…

Restoring peatlands: the most efficient terrestrial carbon-sink in the world

The Moors for the Future Partnership is working to restore degraded peatlands since 2003 in the Peak District National Park and South Pennines. Natural England gave a boost of nearly £2…

World Nature Conservation Day 2019 & the role of Protected Areas

Every 28th of July, the World Nature Conservation Day brings up to the forefront the topic that in recent years has (fortunately) grown importance on people's mind, organisations, enterprises, and…

Bats conservation & the management of Gypsum habitats: a case study from Italy

The Emilia-Romagna region, Italy, enclose great biodiversity. They hold numerous habitats were rare species find refuge. Bats, for instance, are one of the key species there, thanks to the peculiarity…

What do you know about “Biological Field Stations”? – The OBFS Conference for the 1st time in Europe

Get to know about the Organisation of Biological Field Stations (OBFS) a non-profit international network with more than 50 years of experience supporting their members maximizing diversity, inclusiveness, sustainability, and…

The state of Protected Areas in Spain – Yearbook 2018 by EUROPARC Spain

To celebrate the World Environment Day, EUROPARC Spain launched the 2018 Yearbook of the state of Protected Areas in Spain. Following EUROPARC's Spain commitment of "having a living observatory of…

Recommendations for the post-2020 Biodiversity Strategy

In light of the evaluation process of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy and the discussions on the post-2020 EU Biodiversity Strategy, the European Habitats Forum (EHF), which EUROPARC is a…

Combating against invasive alien species in Central – and Eastern-Europe

Article issued by Csaba Bereczki Every year, the Alfred Toepfer Natural Heritage Scholarship supports the work of young conservationist in protected areas across Europe. Csaba was one of the winners of the Scholarship…

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (and the alarming results of the IPBES global biodiversity assessment)

Article issued by Ignace Schops, President of EUROPARC Federation The Unbearable Lightness of Being The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services – IPBES - is very clear: we are…

International Polar Bear Day

Every year, International Polar Bear Day draws attention to the challenges polar bears face in the warming Arctic. It reminds us of all the species endangered by climate change and global…

WORLD WETLANDS DAY 2019

World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on 2 February. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city…

Nature is the answer: IUCN’s manual on ecosystem services

Guidance for good nature questions IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) has recently published the manual "Tools for measuring, modeling, and valuing ecosystem services: guidance for Key Biodiversity Areas, Natural…

The use of Drones for nature conservation

Over the past years, there has been an intense development of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (or Drones). While in some aspects they can be seen as a potential threat (in terms of…

European Habitats Forum: Position Paper on EU Pollinators Initiative launched

Europe is facing significant declines in flying bees, moths and other pollinators. This is a worrying trend, considering that an estimated third of the leading global food crop types can benefit from…

A New Atlanticism – Building Effective Transatlantic MPA Partnerships

Last week, 30th and 31st January, EUROPARC Brussels attended the final conference of a promising MPA pilot project, funded by EU: The “Transatlantic MPA Network - Towards a Transatlantic Partnership…

A EU Initiative for Pollinators – Your Expertise is Needed

The European Commission is running a Public Consultation on the EU initiative for pollinators (running until 5 April 2018), to collect views on the decline of pollinators. The questionnaire covers the…

Invasive Alien Species: EU launches updated list

The EU Environment has just launched a new brochure about Invasive Alien Species, explaining the origin, spread, impacts & measures for the 49 listed species. Invasive alien species can easily…

First European Summit of Regional Nature Parks in Europe

“Regional Nature Parks – strong partners for nature conservation and sustainable rural development” Wednesday, 21 June 2017, 18.00 h – 21.00 h Representation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia to the…

Linking policy and practice: The EU Biodiversity Strategy in the management of Transboundary Protected Areas

Natalya Yakusheva conducted her study visit in the Transboundary Julian Alps Ecoregion, to explore the links between the European Union's objectives for nature conservation, and the day-to-day implementation and management…

Gathering of fungi as a tool for biodiversity conservation in Plitvice Lakes National Park

Eduardo Batista was one of the Alfred Toepfer Scholarship Awardees in 2015 and has just published his report. Eduardo visited a Croatian Park to study the fungi diversity along the…

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