📋 Tender Overview
Start Date: 01/10/2021
End Date: 31/12/2027
Total Budget: 9,097,686 €
EU Contribution: 5,458,611 €
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Occitanie Region of France is located at the crossroads of four biogeographical regions (Atlantic, Alpine, Mediterranean and Continental), which results in high biodiversity value. The Region is home to over half of French fauna and flora species. But this biodiversity is declining. The main cause is land use change leading to the destruction and fragmentation of natural and semi-natural habitats, in particular due to urban sprawl and soil sealing, the intensification of farming in the most productive areas and the abandonment of farming in the least productive areas.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE Biodiv’ paysanne project aims to preserve biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in the Occitanie region by: (i) reducing the threats caused by land use changes on natural and semi-natural habitats and on farmland, over a large network of 277 sites covering 25 687 ha, and (ii) improving and demonstrating the complementarity between natural ecosystems and agro-systems. The targeted sites are representative of the green and blue infrastructure ecosystems of south-western Europe.
Specific objectives include:
Reinforcing the network of natural areas managed by the CENs (Conservatoires des espaces naturels), expanding it, improving connectivity between the sites, and restoring habitats that are in unfavourable conservation status;
Demonstrating that agro-systems are important for nature conservation, through the mainstreaming of biodiversity-friendly farming practices;
Establishing a viable economic model that reconciles agriculture and biodiversity protection, using the added value of natural ecosystems in agro-systems.
The project is fully in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 by seeking to: (i) improve the coherence and effectiveness of the network of protected areas and OECMs (Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures), (ii) restore natural or semi-natural habitats on farmland, and (iii) exceed the Strategy’s target of 10% of agricultural area under high-biodiversity landscape features (on at least 20 farms). The project will also contribute to the implementation of the EU Birds Directive and Habitats Directive, by restoring six habitat types (6210*, 6230*, 6220*, 4030, 6410 and 6510), and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.
KEYWORDS
bird species
grassland ecosystem
heathland
invertebrate
mammal
Agriculture
Agrienvironment
invasive species
wetland ecosystem
sensitive area
land purchase
