ECNC

ECNC’s Programme Areas highlight the relationship between biodiversity, nature and people; address the business side of biodiversity; focus on ecological connectivity of nature and land uses; monitor changes in biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services; focus on the management of ecosystems and species; and combine international and European policies with regional and local realities and approaches.

Click on the links for details of project activities per Programme Area in 2010:

Nature and Society
Business and Biodiversity
Green Infrastructure
Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Assessment
Ecosystem and Species Management
Policy Support

Projects implemented by ECNC in 2010
The following summary shows the projects implemented by ECNC in 2010, briefly outlining the main project aims, duration and geographical coverage.
Click on a project title to read about results achieved in 2010.

Programme Area Nature and Society

Dealing with conflicts in the implementation and management of the Natura 2000 Network
2009-2010; Europe / European Union
Promotion of best practices for achieving a balance between potentially conflicting interests and uses of Natura 2000 sites to ensure engagement of the population and respect of the ecological value of the site.

Biodiversity and ecosystem services for local sustainable development in the Western Balkans – SEE-BAP
2009-2011; Ten municipalities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo (UNSCR 1244)
Promotion of a comprehensive and integrated approach to biodiversity and ecosystem services for the sustainable development of rural municipalities and their local communities in the Western Balkans.

Brabant Pearls of Biodiversity
2010-2011; Province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands
An increased appreciation of biodiversity and the firm anchoring of the application of nature and environmental education as a tool for strengthening biodiversity in Brabant society, by both administrators and target groups.

Brabant Biodiversity Marketplace
2010; the Netherlands
Presentation of successful projects by organizations from Noord-Brabant as well as the rest of the Netherlands in which biodiversity is related to: education; education and childcare; health care; citizen participation; leisure; living and working environment; agriculture; nutrition; and sustainable development.

Skills for local biodiversity
2010-2012; Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK
Collection and dissemination of innovative approaches that have been developed at regional level in order to increase the professional skills of civil servants in integrating biodiversity into sectoral policies, plans and actions. Development of a training method that will be tested and applied in the five project countries.

Programme Area Business and Biodiversity

European Learning Network on Functional AgroBiodiversity – ELN-FAB
2009-2011; The 27 Member States of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland
Exchange of knowledge and practical experience between farmers, policymakers, scientists, businesses and NGOs, to enable fast and effective implementation of best practices in agrobiodiversity.

Promoting the business case for biodiversity in Europe - Phase 3
2008-2010; Europe (with focus on Switzerland)
Mainstreaming of biodiversity concerns in business operations of selected companies and dissemination of biodiversity conservation knowledge in the business sector.

European Business @ Biodiversity Platform
2009-2011: Europe
Establishment of a facility to identify biodiversity benefits for business, design sectoral work plans and identify best practices in the context of EU biodiversity targets. Aimed at a range of stakeholders and networks.

European Biodiversity Standard
2010-date; Europe
Certification scheme to assess a company’s performance in relation to the integration of biodiversity into business processes and activities.

Biodiversiteitsmeter (Biodiversity meter)
2010-date; the Netherlands
Evaluation of the biodiversity performance of individual sites, based on the expert judgement of local stakeholders and experts.

Programme Area Green Infrastructure

Joint Secretariat of the programme element ‘Establishment of the Pan-European Ecological Network’ of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy
Continuous; Europe
ECNC, together with the Council of Europe’s Natural Heritage and Biological Diversity Division, holds the Secretariat of the Pan-European Ecological Network (PEEN). This Secretariat facilitates the implementation of the PEEN as part of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS).

Development of a national ecological network in Macedonia – MAK-NEN
2008-2011; FYR Macedonia
Development of a National Ecological Network as part of the Pan-European Ecological Network (PEEN).

Promoting integrated peatlands management and conservation in the Russian Federation
2010; Russian Federation
Preparation of an overview of the current state of implementation of ecological networks in Europe and advice on the best practice examples in Europe regarding the inclusion and possible role of peatlands in ecological networks.

Steppe biodiversity in Ukraine and Moldova
2010-2013; Ukraine and Moldova
Assistance in development of region-wide steppe ecosystem restoration and conservation, and its sustainable management, as part of a viable rural land-use system.

Programme Area Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Assessment

KYOTO: Knowledge Yielding Ontologies for Transitional Organization
2008-2011; Worldwide
Development of a system that provides search and information access to large quantities of data and information for both experts and the general public in relation to biodiversity and other environmental subject material. KYOTO will be applied to the environmental domain and span global information across European and non-European languages.

Support to the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD)
2010; Europe
Assistance to the ETC/BD in implementing work related to biodiversity monitoring and indicators as well as policy linkages and SEBI2010.

Monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy
2009-2010; European Union
ECNC reviewed the biodiversity-related indicators and the interpretations provided for each of them for the monitoring report of the EU sustainable development strategy.

National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP)
2010; Georgia
Provision of the biodiversity input to the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) for Georgia.

Biodiversity Knowledge
2010-2014; Europe
Development of a recommended design for a scientific biodiversity Network of Knowledge (NoK) to inform policymakers and other societal actors.

Recognizing Natura 2000 benefits and demonstrating the economic benefits of conservation measures
2010-2011; European Union
Raising the awareness of relevant decision-making authorities in the EU Member States about the benefits Natura 2000 provides.

Programme Area Ecosystem and Species Management

Large Herbivore Network - LHNet
2010-date; 57 Eurasian countries
LHNet aims to preserve and restore all large herbivores in Eurasia in the wild, and to provide an active platform to exchange knowledge, initiatives and stimulating (inter)national cooperation, based on science and expertise.

Programme Area Policy Support

Support to the implementation of the CBD and pan-European targets: Safeguarding Europe’s biodiversity by 2010 and beyond
Continuous; Europe
Provision of support to the elaboration and implementation of key global and European policies. Participation in various meetings, including the PEBLDS Council, and involvement in activities such as the PEEN Committee.

Support to the implementation of EU ‘Biodiversity 2010 and beyond’ policies
Continuous; Europe
ECNC works closely with the European Commission and its Member States in the implementation of EU biodiversity policies. ECNC participates in the EU Coordination Group for Biodiversity and Nature.

ALTER-Net: a long-term biodiversity, ecosystem and awareness research network
2004-2012; 17 European countries
This ‘Network of Excellence’ is a European long-term interdisciplinary research facility for research on the complex relationship between ecosystems, biodiversity and society. It provides research support for policy assessment and development on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the EU, and a stable facility for information retrieval and reporting on biodiversity-related issues.

Biodiversity and the Province of Noord-Brabant
2010; Province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands
Assistance to the Province of Noord-Brabant in its biodiversity-related activities, including promoting Countdown 2010; drafting local biodiversity plans; maintaining the Biodiversiteit in Brabant website, and publishing its newsletters; providing the secretariat of the Noord-Brabant Task Force on Biodiversity and Countdown 2010.