With ecological corridors in the Danube region currently threatened by the lack of proper planning of economic development activities, the need to fund interventions in line with the standards of green infrastructure is critical. Thus, the SaveGREEN project just proposed a new set of general recommendations for funding interventions that promote GI from the EU to the regional, national, and local levels.

 Alignment of a motorway in a flat landscape (copyright Tibor Sos RO)

All in all, the proposal aims to help fill the gap caused by the lack of specific measures from the EU funding programs on the needs of biodiversity conservation and green infrastructure and to support cross-sectoral dialogue and cooperation into decision making. To do so, it provides applicable recommendations that can be adapted by the SaveGREEN partner countries to their national needs. Moreover, for them to be used as a basis to advocate and ensure the funding of Green Infrastructure in relevant plans and programs, such as Operational Programmes, National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRP), and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as well as for EU standards on the integration of ecological connectivity and green infrastructure.

 Ekodukt (copyright Dusan Valachovic 2017)

The proposal was elaborated based on the consensus of  51 expert and management-level staff of EU funds Management Authorities from Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and Bulgaria. Ultimately, its aim is to tackle in advance the potential problems related to how urban development, linear transport infrastructure, construction or intensive agriculture and forestry, as well as intensive water management practices, can cause a rupture of the natural balance and affect the functionality of ecological corridors if adequate mitigation measures - that harmonize planning and lower the negative impact of economic development - do not come in the form of integrated planning.

Bucharest, February 2021
Source by: Andreea Danciu WWF RO