The European Natura 2000 Award aims to raise awareness about the benefits of Natura 2000 and the importance of biodiversity at EU, Member State and local level. It provides an excellent opportunity to promote your work, network and exchange experiences with EU policy makers and other applicants.

Anyone directly involved in Natura 2000 – businesses, authorities, NGOs, volunteers, land owners, educational institutions or individuals – can apply for an Award. By doing so, your efforts to help protect Europe’s most valuable species and habitats will be presented to a wide audience and will help raise the visibility of your activities across the EU. Showcasing your success will also provide inspiration for others who manage and promote Natura 2000 sites.

The Natura 2000 Award recognises good practice in Natura 2000 sites in six different categories:

• Communication;
• Socio-Economic Benefits;
• Conservation;
• Reconciling Interests / Perceptions;
• Cross-Border Cooperation and Networking.

As well as a European Citizens’ Award, which  provides  the public with an opportunity to vote for its favourite achievement. The application receiving the highest number of public votes will win the prestigious European Citizens’ Award.

How to apply

It’s simple! Go to the award website and fill in your application form before the 30 September 2019. The website provides detailed information on the application process and offers guidance, tips and examples of how to present your achievements. A summary of each application will be published on the Award website for all to see.

The application form is not complicated and can be completed in all EU languages but it is important that all applicants, including those who have applied previously, read the application form and Guidance for applicants carefully in order to give the application its best chance. Small improvements have been made to the application form and Guidance since the last edition of the Award.

Read the Guidance for application.

Key dates for your diary are as follows:

• 30 September 2019 – Deadline for submissions
• March 2020 – Announcement of finalists and public vote
• May 2020 – Award Ceremony in Brussels

As with the previous editions of the Award, the Award Secretariat provides a help desk for all applicants and potential applicants. Applicants are encouraged to use the on the website or e-mail with any inquiries or concerns about the application process. The e-mail address is: n2000awards@adelphi.de.

Why to apply

Winning an Award has helped previous applicants, opening new horizons, allowing them to promote their activities on a much wider scale. Winners have particularly highlighted the benefits in terms of raising their profile with the governmental bodies and other stakeholders. For example, the Environmental Organization for Wildlife and Nature Callisto, Greece, winner of the 2018 Reconciling Interests Award said:

“Winning the Natura 2000 Award has had a great impact on the image and status of Callisto. Winning the Award is a great recognition for all the time, work and actions in Kastoria and has had a significant impact both on the external image of Callisto and for all of our experts. This recognition is also a helpful supporting argument for fundraising and asking for further support from Callisto’s friends.”

And the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society – MME (BirdLife Hungary), Winner of the 2018 Conservation Award added:

“Both the press release about winning the Award and the press conference at the local event resulted in a very high level of press coverage (100+ media reports), making it one of the most significant topics in the field of nature conservation in Hungary that year.”

Given the key role of member Protected Areas in the management of Natura 2000 network, we encourage all EUROPARC members to have their work acknowledged by applying for the Natura 2000 Award!

Terres Travel Festival – Films & Creativity

The 3rd edition of the Terres Travel Festival – Films & Creativity was celebrated from April 26th to May 5th in Tortosa, a city located between the Delte de l´Ebre Natural Park and Els Ports Natural Park, in Catalonia – Spain, and included inside the Terres de l´Ebre UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Festival specialises in tourism films about landscape and journeys and targets both professionals from the tourism sector and the general audience alike. Furthermore, it is a member of the CIFFT – Committee International des Festivals of Films Touristiques and aims to contribute decisively to a re-balancing the attention and benefits of tourism to better the urban-rural distribution.

Award winners and collaborators at Terres Travel Festival – Films & Creativity 2019 – Photo by EUROPARC Federation

In this edition, 108 films from 24 countries were presented in two categories: Tourism films aiming to promote brands and touristic destinations, and Documentary films that seek to portray the relation between tourism, people and nature.

Best Movie Promoting Sustainability

The film “A Sustainable Journey” was presented within the Documentary category and was awarded with one of the two highest recognitions of the festival: the “TERRES DE L´EBRE- Best Movie Promoting Sustainability” Award.

A Sustainable Journey – Best Movie Promoting Sustainability at Terres Travel Festival – Films & Creativity 2019

For the Awards Ceremony, EUROPARC representatives were invited to the Award Ceremony and Carol Ritchie, EUROPARC Federation Executive director, took the opportunity to explain the importance of choosing sustainable destinations when travelling.  She also acknowledged the support provided by Interreg Central Europe, and the Park representatives where the movie was recorded for the production of this film and invited the audience to view CEETO Pilot Areas video teasers. For further information on the Awards visit Terres Travel Festival news.

About the Film

“A Sustainable Journey” depicts the story of a traveller seeking to escape every day´s pressures to a different kind of tourism that is good for nature and good for people. The traveller invites the viewers to make more sustainable holiday  choices. It was produced by EUROPARC Federation in the framework of CEETO project and the support of Interreg Central Europe, filmed in place in the Alpi Marittime Natural Park and Marguareis Natural Park in Italy, and Mercantour National Park in France.

Interview to local business owners during the shooting of “A Sustainable Journey” – Photo by EUROPARC Federation

For its production, sustainable industries and local producers certified with the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas were meticulously selected and recorded in order to lead with the example for future sustainable destinations. Apart from English, the movie is available in French, German, Italian and Spanish languages.

For further information about the movie, visit A Sustainable Journey – the Film webpage at CEETO website, or watch it online (English version below):

Next May 23rd to 26th of the present year, Brussels will become again the centre of attention of all Europeans. During these days, the European elections will take place allowing millions of European citizens to decide who will be steering the route of the EU during the following five years.

These elections may have significant changes not only in the composition of the EU Parliament and Commissioners board, but also in the institutions in charge of setting the strategy that our continent will follow. Among the citizenship concerns, the environment, and specially climate change, occupy a top place in the list.

For this reason, and in the previous month to the elections, EUROPARC Federation is raising the voice to our natural heritage with the publication of the Policy Paper “Our Natural Heritage: the Key to Europe’s Future”.

Download “Our Natural Heritage: the key to Europe´s Future”

This document aims to mobilise European Political Groups, National Parties and Movements, as well as individual candidates, to take action on different topics in order to ensure a sustainable future for our economy and our environment. One of the matters stressed in the document is the role that Protected Areas must have in achieving substantial changes related with the environment and socio-economic development, and it also identifies four priority areas which require urgent attention and action:

• sustainable economic development;
• healthy ecosystems;
• youth leadership;
• climate change.

Despite the great efforts that the European Union has made in the previous years to address the environmental challenges that our planet is facing through the establishment of specific legislation and actions, still further development and more effective implementation is required.

For further information on European Policies and the work of the Federation in this regard, visit the EUROPARC Policy webpage.

From February 13th to 15th, Collserola Nature Park hosted one of the EUROPARC Federation´s Council. This organ carries out its function together with the president, Ignace Schops, and the internal auditor, Roger de Freitas.

The Council is in charge of granting the correct functioning of the Federation and implementation of the approved programme and strategy. It is composed by twelve members, from which nine of them are elected every three years by EUROPARC members and three of them are assigned by existing Council members (co-opted members) according to their expertise. Among them, the manager of the Collserola Nature Park Consortium, Marià Martí, representing Periurban Parks and also chair of the Periurban Commission of EUROPARC.

Collserola Nature Park spring bulletin, with a dedicated article to EUROPARC Council meeting – Photo by EUROPARC Federation.

Since 2018, Collserola nature Park has been a member of EUROPARC Federation and, throughout an agreement reached with EUROPARC Federation in April of that same year, it hosts one of the three offices of EUROPARC Federation in Europe with two technicians working in it. The Barcelona office of EUROPARC Federation, hence, gives continuity to the former office of the European Association of Periurban Parks – Fedenatur, which was integrated into EUROPARC at the end of 2017.

Apart from serving as a venue, hosting one of EUROPARC Federation´s Council meetings in this park has also given the opportunity to the Councillors to get a deeper knowledge on the features of this park, one of the greatest examples of Periurban parks in Europe.

One of the tasks covered during the meeting was the preparation of the following EUROPARC Conference, the gathering of protected area managers that EUROPARC Federation organises every year in different regions of Europe once a year, which will take place in Kemeri National Park, Latvia, from September 24th to 27th 2019.

EUROPARC Conference 2019 banner