Together with key stakeholders, NaturaConnect will co-develop knowledge, tools and capacity building programmes to support Member States in implementing an ecologically representative, resilient and well-connected Trans-European Nature Network (TEN-N) that builds on the existing network of protected areas and Green and Blue Infrastructure.
Through research, engagement and dissemination activities at the European scale and in a set of six case studies, the project will elicit stakeholders’ visions and preferences about conservation objectives, tap into best practices in protected areas management and funding mechanisms, mobilize data and test the TEN-N spatial prioritization analyses and tools produced by NaturaConnect.
This addresses two major obstacles identified by the EU Nature Legislation Fitness Check: lack of stakeholder awareness and cooperation, and insufficient knowledge and access to existing funding mechanisms. NaturaConnect will further address a third major obstacle, limited availability of knowledge on biodiversity distribution, drivers of change and conservation solutions. To address this, NaturaConnect brings together a consortium of the top European scientists, policy experts and NGOs to produce and mobilize relevant data and knowledge. This includes refining and applying state-of-the-art models on biodiversity, ecosystem services and environmental change across Europe and under current and future climate and land-use.
Equipped with improved data, knowledge, models and spatial planning methods the project will identify gaps in protected area coverage, connectivity and resilience under climate and land- use change. It will further develop scenarios for expanding protected areas, establish ecological corridors and other areas of connectivity to address these gaps, thereby offering a blue-print for realizing TEN-N. NaturaConnect will further provide knowledge and decision support for policy, financing and implementation of TEN-N at all relevant scales.
Project PIs: Nestor Fernandez and Henrique Pereira
Our researchers involved in the project:
Henrique M. Pereira
Néstor Fernández
Miguel Fernandez
Jeremy Dertien
Emmanuel Oceguera
Nikolaj Rauff Poulsen
Martina Marei Viti
Christian Langer
Duration of the project: July 2022 to June 2026
Funding information: The project receives funding under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 101060429.
Website: https://naturaconnect.eu/
