LIFE-IP: N2K Revisited (LIFE, 2019–2026)

Project web page: Web page of the project

Project period: 2019-2026

Financial support: LIFE programme (European Commission)

Project description:

The main objective of the LIFE-IP: N2K Revisited project is to establish a more effective management system for Natura 2000 network sites in the Czech Republic. The aim is to link appropriate management more effectively with corresponding planning, based on accurate assessments of status and trends of the target features, accompanied by cooperation with land users. The project will effectively utilise knowledge of the benefits provided by natural capital to society and take into account relevant costs. The project will also support regional authorities, municipalities and land users to help them mobilise their own resources, including recommendations for the EU 2027+ programming period.

Within the project, CUEC contributes to assessment of benefits provided by the Natura 2000 network to society and evaluates the impacts of the LIFE project. We also participate in several project case studies, and in the design and accomplishment of learning courses for nature protection authorities and infotainment materials on Natura 2000 benefits for stakeholders and for the general public. Our main results will be incorporated in publicly available deliverables of the project and published in peer-reviewed articles.

Project outputs:

• assessment of targeted habitats and species status for at least 95 % of sites;
• conservation priorities set on an annual basis and cross-site comparisons made to optimise resource allocation;
• about 400 annual and 100 multi-annual public law contracts negotiated with land users concerning site management practice;
• implementation of priority measures, evaluation of management effectiveness, and 150 management plans updated;
• management carried out at on at least 1 500 ha annually, with two innovative management practices tested and evaluated in 20 localities;
• assessment of benefits provided by the Natura 2000 network to society, ecosystem services mapped and published, a new methodology used to assess the benefits and costs associated with Natura 2000, and the National Ecosystem Services Platform incorporates these Natura 2000 benefits into decision-making on natural capital management;
• training of at least 400 Nature Protection Authorities (NPA) employees;
• financing analysed and established for Natura 2000 management and the necessary resources mobilised to secure the full implementation of the national Prioritised Action Framework (PAF) for Natura 2000 for the period 2014-2020;
• guidelines for public administration procedures, and recommendations on strategic and planning documents relevant to Natura 2000; and
• awareness raised about the Natura 2000 network and its benefits to society through dissemination activities, including a web tool to visualise ecosystem services, information materials, and the outcomes of three case studies on local Natura 2000 socio-economic benefits.

Project partners:

• Ministry of Environment
• Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic
• CzechGlobe – Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
• Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences (SoWa)

Coordinator of the project in CUEC:

• Kateřina Mácová, née Kaprová

Research team:

• Jan Melichar
• Kateřina Mácová, née Kaprová
• Bronislav Farkač
• Jan Weinzettel
• Hana Škopková