Summary Report of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference 31 st October 3 rd November 2016 Nature Centre Ukko, Koli National Park Finland Participants of the 9 th Pan-European Conference European Green Belt Association
The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference was jointly organized by The conference was financially supported by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Ministry of the Environment of Finland, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds of the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear safety, the BUND Project Office Green Belt, the EuroNatur Foundation and the European Green Belt Association e.v. 2
Introduction The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference in Finland marks a new milestone for future cooperation of the European Green Belt Initiative. More than 125 participants from 26 countries, including representatives of all 24 countries along the European Green Belt, met in the Nature Centre Ukko in the Koli National Park from 31 st October to 3 rd November 2016. The aim of the conference was to give an insight and outlook on the cooperation and activities along the European Green Belt. The conference focused on experiences and best practices putting into action the vision of the European Green Belt on conserving the ecological network of high-value natural and cultural landscapes while respecting the economic, social and cultural needs of local communities. In addition, the conference contributed to the development of the European Green Belt as part of Green Infrastructure in Europe as well as to the strategic development of the European Green Belt Initiative. Furthermore, the Pan-European Conference provided an important platform for exchange between all partners along the European Green Belt. Information about the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference is available at: Further information about the European Green Belt Initiative is available at: www.europeangreenbelt.org 3
Session Overview Tuesday, 01 st November 2016 Session 1 - Opening of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference Welcome Speeches: Kimmo Tiilikainen, Minister of the Environment and Agriculture Finland (video) Risto Poutanen, Regional Mayor, Regional Council of the North Karelia Timo Tanninen, Executive Director, Parks and Wildlife Finland Anna Balakireva, Director of the Unit, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Russia Bjorn Arne Naess, Norwegian Environment Agency Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director, EuroNatur, Chair of the European Green Belt Association Session 2 - Green Infrastructure and TEN-G Keynote Speeches: EU Green Infrastructure: status and perspectives Stefan Leiner, Head of Biodiversity Unit, DG Environment, European Commission German national ecological network: legal base, scientific foundation and European context. Dr. Uwe Riecken, Head of Department, Biotope Protection and Landscape Ecology, German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) Session 3 - Insights into the Green Belt of Fennoscandia Key Note Speeches: History and special characteristics Rustam Sagitov, Director, Baltic Fund for Nature Green Belt Strategy until 2020 Kristiina Niikkonen, Councellor, Ministry of the Environment of Finland Panel on the future and opportunities of the Green Belt in Fennoscandia Session 4 - Strategic Planning Session I Further development of the spatial dimension of the European Green Belt Presentation of the project "European Green Belt as part of Green Infrastructure" Dr. Liana Geidezis (BUND Project Office Green Belt), Sandra Wigger (EuroNatur) Introduction to the working session Felix Cybulla, Freelance Consultant Parallel working groups Session 5 - Best Practices Guided Poster Session European Green Belt Fair 4
Wednesday, 02 nd November 2016 Session 6 - Presentations of Best Practices Cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organization in the frame of the European Green Belt Initiative, Melanie Kreutz (BUND Project Office Green Belt), Sandra Wigger (EuroNatur) Best practices from Transboundary Park in Pasvik-Inari area and trilateral cooperation (nature tourism perspective) Tiia Kalske (Finnmark County), Riina Tervo (Parks & Wildlife Finland), Marina Trusova (Pasvik Zapovednik) Tourism, health, well-being and nature Matti Tapaninen (Parks & Wildlife Finland) SuoMaa: Safeguarding a large-scale taiga corridor between Finland and Russian Karelia Virpi Sahi (Finnish Nature Conservation Association) BPAN Barents Protected Area Network Anna Kuhmonen (Finnish Environment Institute) Session 7 - Strategic Planning Session II a Development of a work programme 2017-2018 for the European Green Belt Association Function and role of the European Green Belt Association Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director, EuroNatur, Chair of the European Green Belt Association Results of the 8 th Pan-European Conference in Slavonice 2014 Felix Cybulla (Freelance Consultant), Melanie Kreutz (BUND Project Office Green Belt) Session 8 - Strategic Planning Session II b Development of a work programme 2017-2018 for the European Green Belt Association Parallel working group session Session 9 - Wrap-up and Closing Kristiina Niikkonen, Councellor, Ministry of the Environment Finland Gabriel Schwaderer, Executive Director, EuroNatur, Chair of the European Green Belt Association 5
Opening of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference The conference was opened by the Ministry of the Environment of Finland as host of the 9 th Pan- European Green Belt Conference. In addition, representatives of all three countries along the Green Belt of Fennoscandia Finland, Norway and Russia as well as the chair of the European Green Belt Association welcomed over 125 participants of the conference. Green Infrastructure and TEN-G The European Commission defines Green Infrastructure (GI) as a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services. It incorporates green spaces (or blue if aquatic ecosystems are concerned) and other physical features in terrestrial (including coastal) and marine areas. The backbone of this network is formed by the Natura 2000 areas spread throughout Europe. At the same time GI will help improving the connectivity between sites in the Natura 2000 network as required by the Habitats Directive. Stefan Leiner, Head of the Biodiversity Unit of DG Environment (ENV) of the European Commission, highlighted in his presentation the European Green Belt as an important key example of Green Infrastructure on EU-level. According to the assessment of DG ENV a robust funding scheme for Green Infrastructure would be necessary. With regard to the already existing Trans-European Networks for Transport etc. a similar scheme should be established for Green Infrastructure (TEN-G). TEN-G would be an efficient instrument to provide a platform for developing a trans-european strategy and to provide appropriate funding. In order to convince other stakeholders on the relevance of Green Infrastructure studies on the socio-economic benefits provided by the European Green Belt are appreciated. Dr. Uwe Riecken, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation Germany, gave an insight on the German ecological network as example for Green Infrastructure on national level. The background paper and presentations are available at: 6
Insights into the Green Belt of Fennoscandia The history, special characteristics, the development as well as the strategy of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia were presented through two main key note speeches by representatives of the Russian NGO Baltic Fund for Nature as well as the Ministry of the Environment of Finland. The audience was given an enhanced understanding of the features of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia through a fruitful panel discussion with eight representatives from all three countries along the Green Belt of Fennoscandia. More information and the presentations are available at: Koli National Park, Finland Sandra Wigger 7
Further development of the spatial dimension of the European Green Belt In the frame of the project "European Green Belt as part of Green Infrastructure", supported by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with funds of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, different GIS analyses were elaborated regarding the spatial dimension of the European Green Belt. When it comes to topics such as Green Infrastructure (GI) and connectivity a clear definition of the spatial dimension of the European Green Belt is needed. Detailed analyses of any kind can only be run based on a defined spatial action space. Also the practical implementation of connectivity in spatial planning needs an assigned localization. Another important factor is that a defined spatial scope will contribute to ensuring the support on the ground. Only when stakeholders can be clearly named, they are able to identify themselves with the European Green Belt and actively campaign for it. However, such spatial delimitation is merely a geographical localization of the European Green Belt, meaning a planning or reference area in which the activities of the initiative are concentrated. For the Central European Green Belt a connectivity analysis was done by the IOER (Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development) and the first results were presented by the BUND Project Office Green Belt. In addition, through an analysis elaborated by EuroNatur in cooperation with University Salzburg, the possibilities of a spatial scope for the European Green Belt based on the criteria protected areas and administrative units were examined. By choosing administrative units as a criterion it is possible to consider responsibilities (e.g. protected area management, spatial planning) and to address people in concrete terms (political stakeholders, local NGO s, single citizens). Protected areas add a reference to the landscape. The aim of the analysis was to visualize the spatial relations in different scenarios (e.g. different types of administrative units) and to identify possibilities for a Green Belt Area for all 24 countries along the European Green Belt (see maps annex A). In working groups the participants discussed the results of the spatial scope analysis for their respective region. The discussions showed that the participants of the conference support the process to develop a clear understanding and definition of a European Green Belt Area and that the suggested criteria can be useful to define such an area. In addition, the spatial definition of the European Green Belt shall be simple to understand (and communicate). 8
More detailed results of the regions: Green Belt of Fennoscandia The work on the identification of the dimension of the Fennoscandian Green Belt is at a more advanced stage. A spatial scope of the Green Belt has already been determined for each of the three countries. More details can be found in the Strategy of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, available at: During the session the spatial scope of each country was presented. In addition, the participants discussed the approach of the spatial scope analysis elaborated in the frame of the project "European Green Belt as part of Green Infrastructure". Baltic Green Belt The following results were obtained during the working session regarding the spatial scope of the Baltic Green Belt: The spatial definition of the Baltic Green Belt should be simple to understand and implement and maintain the uniqueness of the Green Belt, i.e. the clear connection to the former Iron Curtain. Once defined the spatial extent should not be constantly modified due to adjustments of administrative units or protected areas. There should rather be a longtime spatial definition. The NUTS / LAU classification was not seen as useful for identifying the Baltic Green Belt since its structure was regarded as not appropriate in several countries. The proposed spatial scope of the Baltic Green Belt is the area of 25 km from the coastline into the inland region and 12 nautical miles (=22,2 km) into the coastal waters. To keep the definition of the Baltic Green Belt area as simple as possible, the participants proposed to choose only the distance to the coastline as criterion, without protected areas as a second criterion. This means protected areas will be cut through and only parts inside the spatial scope defined by the first criterion will be included. Cities (e.g. St. Petersburg) inside the 25 km spatial scope shall be included into the Baltic Green Belt. Defining a Green Belt core area and buffer zones was not stated as useful for all countries. However, applying a Green Belt Region comprising e.g. all municipalities partly belonging to the Green Belt might be appropriate. 9
Central European Green Belt The working group regarding the spatial scope along the Central European Green Belt summarized the following conclusions: The scope for the Green Belt in the Central European countries should be defined for each country (due to different administrative units and different classification of protected areas) but with a joint basis. As a whole the LAU-levels as administrative units and the protected areas directly situated at the border seem to be the most suitable scope. Defining a Green Belt core area and buffer zones was not stated as useful for all countries. A Green Belt Region consisting of LAU-units and PAs situated directly at the respective country border (as a basis), was identified as suitable for most activities. Detailed results of the working session Central European Green Belt can be found in annex B. Balkan Green Belt For the spatial scope of the Balkan Green Belt the working group identified the following results: The spatial scope of the Balkan Green Belt area should be based on the following two criteria: the administrative units of the LAU-level directly at the country border plus the protected areas (in full size) situated at least partly in the chosen administrative unit. For all countries, the NUTS 3 level was identified as not suitable as administrative unit to identify the Balkan Green Belt. In addition, the participants identified the following alternative approach for the spatial scope: The defined Balkan Green Belt should consist of the total area of 25 km from the respective country border plus the PAs (in full size) situated at least partly in the 25 km area. Due to the lack of information in the database Eurostat for Non-EU countries, the participants agreed to revise the given information of the NUTS-Classification for their country see annex C. The results of the working groups will be used to elaborate a proposal for a definition of the spatial scope of the European Green Belt. The background paper, the material of the working session and the presentations are available at: 10
Best Practices Best practices regarding different activities along the European Green Belt were presented at a guided poster session with 25 posters as well as with five presentations during a lecture session. The posters and the presentations are available at: European Green Belt Fair The tradition of the European Green Belt Fair as tasty platform to meet as well as exchange ideas and experiences was continued. The first conference day ended in a fair where the participants presented food and drink specialties from their Green Belt regions, like typical cheese, sausages, sweets, wine and more. The event showed the cultural richness and diversity of the four regions along the Green Belt: Fennoscandia, the Baltics, Central Europe and the Balkans. Poster session Stanka Dešnik Green Belt Fair Timo Hokkanen 11
Development of a Programme of Work 2017-2018 for the European Green Belt Association The European Green Belt Association was established on 24 th September 2014 during the 8 th Pan- European Green Belt Conference. Currently the association has 30 members representing 16 countries along the European Green Belt (status: 30.09.2016). The mission of the European Green Belt Association is to ensure that the European Green Belt is efficiently protected and that its sustainable development is promoted by facilitating an on-going, coordinated transboundary co-operation at all levels and across all sectors of society. For more details see the presentation about the role and function of the European Green Belt Association during session 7 available at: Session 8 aimed at developing in interactive working groups a list of ideas with milestones, tasks and activities for the Programme of Work 2017-2018 for the European Green Belt Association. Based on the results of the 8 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference in Slavonice 2014, the following three fields of action were chosen as topics for the working groups: Capacity Building and knowledge exchange (EU-)Lobbying Awareness raising and education Please see the results of the working groups in annex D. Based on the list of ideas developed during the conference, the General Assembly 2016 of the European Green Belt Association chose milestones, tasks and activities for the Programme of Work of the European Green Belt Association 2017-2018 (PoW EGBA 2017-2018). Please see the chosen content for the programme of work EGBA in annex E. The programme will be completed by the board of the European Green Belt Association. The results, background papers and the presentation are available at: 12
Conclusions of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference has been attended by more than 125 participants representing all 24 countries along the European Green Belt. They shared best practice examples, experiences and knowledge. The conference served as an important market place for exchanging ideas and thoughts about improved preservation and restoration of the European Green Belt and enhanced sustainable development along the European Green Belt. Key conclusions: 1) The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference sends out a strong message for enhancing crossborder cooperation in Europe and improving the connection of nature and people. 2) The Biodiversity targets of the CBD and the EU Biodiversity Strategy are still not achieved. Especially when it comes to green infrastructure as well as to connectivity of habitats and ecosystems as well as their restoration, there is considerable space for improvement. 3) The Mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy as well as the REFIT analysis show clearly that the targets of the EU Biodiversity Strategy will be not achieved without introducing more effective funding instruments. 4) Therefore the participants of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference call on the European Institutions, EU member states and the European public within and outside the European Union to provide sufficient funding instruments to enhance connectivity among habitats and ecosystems. Thus a strong and well-funded financial programme for Green Infrastructure for the EU and adjacent countries has been requested. 5) The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference highlighted various important benefits, the European Green Belt provides for biodiversity and nature, climate adaption and mitigation. This is underpinned by very recent findings: First analysis within the European Green Belt area clearly show that the closer you are to the Green Belt, the higher is the percentage of protected areas and the better is the connectivity among them. 6) The 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference highlighted various important benefits, which the European Green Belt provides for human well-being. This is underpinned by recent findings: Research in Finland clearly proofs that one EUR public investment in nature conservation along the Green Belt of Fennoscandia pay back to local private income with 10 EUR. 7) The participants of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference are aware that nature in general and along the European Green Belt in particular, provides recreation opportunities and health services for people. 13
8) The participants of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference are aware that there are much more benefits for biodiversity and for human well-being provided by the European Green Belt. All relevant publications on these issues will be shared and further research will be encouraged. 9) First steps to come up with a clear understanding and a mutual definition of the European Green Belt Areas were made. The participants of the conference are aware that more efforts are necessary in order to agree on an overall valid definition of the European Green Belt Area. 10) Nevertheless the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference calls on all countries along the European Green Belt to include the European Green Belt Area into their spatial planning system with the clear objective to preserve existing valuable habitats and ecosystems and to enhance their connectivity. 11) The participants of the 9 th Pan-European Green Belt Conference elaborated important milestones for the work programme of the European Green Belt Association and the European Green Belt Initiative. Koli National Park, Finland Stanka Dešnik 14