SaveGREEN project is set to work on the critical theme of ecological corridors in the Carpathian and further mountain ranges of the Danube region.
Currently, eco-corridors are threatened by the lack of adequate planning of economic development initiatives. Linear transport infrastructure, urban development, intensive agricultural, forestry, and water management practices can interrupt ecological corridors, cause traffic-deaths, and lower the reproductive success of key species and the effectiveness of ecosystem services we all depend on.
Therefore, building on the key results of previous Interreg Danube Transnational Programme projects — i.e. TRANSGREEN, ConnectGREEN and HARMON — the SaveGREEN project will identify, collect, and promote the best solutions for safeguarding ecological corridors — including monitoring the impact of mitigation measures. Thus, basing its work on integrated planning, it will help derive proper recommendations for follow-up actions and policy design.
Pilot Areas
- Kobernausser forest, Austria
- Pöttsching, Austria
- Beskydy-Kysuce, Czech-Slovak cross-border area
- Novohrad-Nógrád, Slovak-Hungarian cross-border area
- Zakarpattia region, Ukraine
- Mureş valley, Arad — Deva, Romania
- Mureş valley, Târgu Mureş — Târgu Neamţ, Romania
- Rila — Verila — Kraishte corridor, Bulgaria
Activities
- Development of a standardised monitoring methodology for structural and functional connectivity, including an application toolbox for the monitoring of structural and functional connectivity for field experts.
- Development of a capacity-building programme for public authorities and key stakeholders on how to integrate Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA), and cost-benefit analysis into the project planning processes.
- Development of cross-sectoral operational plans to safeguard the functionality of ecological corridors in the pilot areas engaging relevant stakeholders of the specific pilot areas and the national level.
- Implementation of selected actions of the local cross-sectoral operational plans.
- Support the mainstreaming of ecological connectivity into EU and global policies through cooperation among macro-regional strategies (i.e. EUSDR and the Carpathian Convention).
- Development of recommendations towards the integration of mitigation measures/GI into sectoral policy and decision making.
- Strengthening of cross-sectoral cooperation among key players, promotion of project results in the Danube basin and beyond, and capacity building at the national level.
Expected results
Local cross-sectoral operational plans developed with stakeholder groups — for at least seven locations across seven countries in the Danube region — will present innovative and integrated solutions for increasing ecological functionality in the respective areas.
The developed monitoring method applied in the pilot areas will create knowledge and lessons learnt for the improvement of the management of crossing structures and their surrounding land use.
The participatory approach for development will create ownership by those who have the power to implement the plans. Moreover, stakeholder groups in the pilot areas will benefit from the uptake of learnings from other pilot areas with complementary foci (e.g. agriculture, forestry, water management) and results of the ConnectGREEN and TRANSGREEN projects at the transnational level.
At the policy level, the new national programmes for the disbursement of EU funds will include financial allocations for environmental measures.
Project overview
Title: Safeguarding the functionality of transnationally important ecological corridors in the Danube basin
Acronym: SaveGREEN
Duration: 1 July 2020 – 31 December 2022
Budget: €2 756 617.57
Project co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF) | www.interreg-danube.eu/SaveGREEN
Partners
- Austria: WWF Central and Eastern Europe; Environment Agency Austria
- Bugaria: Black Sea NGO Network; Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation
- Czechia: Friends of the Earth, Olomouc branch; Transport Research Centre
- Hungary: CEEweb for Biodiversity; Szent Istvan University
- Romania: Zarand Association; EPC Environmental Consulting Ltd; WWF Romania
- Slovakia: WWF Slovakia; Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava — SPECTRA Centre of Excellence of EU