SaveGREEN
The SaveGREEN project: Safeguarding the functionality of transnationally important ecological corridors in the Danube basin
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 DTP 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.
Basic details of the project:
Project: 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
Partners:
Austria: WWF Central and Eastern Europe, Environment Agency Austria
Bulgaria: Black Sea NGO Network; Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation
Czech Republic: 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
Associated Partners:
Austria: Austrian Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology Bulgaria: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry- Executive Forest Agency; Southwestern State Enterprise SE – Blagoevgrad Czech Republic: Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic; Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic France: Infrastructure and Ecology Network Europe (IENE) Germany: Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection Greece: EGNATIA ODOS S.A. Hungary: NIF National Infrastructure Developing Private Company Limited; Ministry of Agriculture; Danube-Ipoly National Park Directorate Romania: Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests; Ministry of Public Works, Development and Administration; Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Slovakia: State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic; Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic; Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic; National Motorway Company Ukraine: M.P. Shulgin State Road Research Institute State Enterprise – DerzhdorNDI SE; Department of Ecology and Nature Resources of Zakarpattia Oblast Administration
Pilot areas:
- Kobernausser forest in AT, last remnant ecological corridor connecting the Alps AT with the CZ Rep. cut off by a motorway;
- Pöttsching, the Alpine (AT)-Carpathian (SK) Corridor on the AT side;
- Beskydy-Kysuce CZ-SK cross-border area, connecting inner Carpathians and the periphery;
- Novohrad-Nógrád SK-HU cross-border area between South Slovakia and North Hungary bridging the North-South movement of large carnivores;
- Zakarpattia region in Ukraine connecting Romania and Slovakia;
- Mures valley (Arad- Deva), corridor area between Apuseni Mountains and the main Carpathian arch in Romania;
- Mures valley (Târgu Mureş - Târgu Neamţ), Eastern Carpathians in Romania;
- Rila-Verila-Kraishte corridor in Bulgaria connecting Bulgaria with Northern Macedonia and Serbia.
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.
Main expected results
The 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.
The SaveGREEN project co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF) | www.interreg-danube.eu/SaveGREEN