Call for Proposals: Strategic Nature Projects

The call is launched in accordance with the LIFE 2021-2024 Multiannual Work Programme (MAWP) and will be managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) (‘Agency’).

What is the LIFE Programme?

• The LIFE Programme is the EU Programme for Environment and Climate Action.
• As such, it is one of the key contributors to the European Green Deal which aims to:
  • transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use and
  • protect, conserve and enhance the EU’s natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment and climate related risks and impacts.
• The LIFE Programme will contribute to these priorities through its four subprogrammes in particular by:
  • boosting and integrating the implementation of the EU’s policy objectives for halting and reversing loss of wildlife habitats and species across all sectors
  • supporting the transition to a circular economy and protecting and improving the quality of EU’s natural resources, including air, soil and water among others
  • supporting implementation of the 2030 energy and climate policy framework, the EU’s climate neutrality objective by 2050, and the new EU strategy on adaptation to climate change and
  • building capacity, stimulating investments and supporting implementation of policies focused on energy efficiency and small-scale renewables.
• The LIFE Programme is structured in two fields and four sub-programmes:
  • Environment:
    • sub-programme Nature and Biodiversity
    • sub-programme Circular Economy and Quality of Life
  • Climate Action: 
    • sub-programme Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
    • sub-programme Clean Energy Transition.

Objectives

• The objective of a SNaP project is to support the achievement of EU nature and biodiversity objectives by implementing coherent programmes of action in Member States in order to mainstream those objectives and priorities into other policies and financing instruments. This will include the coordinated implementation of:
  • Prioritised Action Frameworks (PAF) and/or
  • other plans or strategies adopted at international, national, multiregional or regional level by nature and biodiversity authorities, that implement EU nature and/or biodiversity policy or legislation, through coordination of the available funding and mobilisation of additional funding and with the active engagement of all the relevant stakeholders

Funding Information

• Total budget: EUR 70 million
• Indicative range of project budgets: EUR 10-30 million
• Duration
  • Indicative expected project duration: 60 – 120 months

Scope — Activities that can be funded

• The general objectives of SNaPs, the proposal should therefore present information on:
  • the expected level of implementation of the target plan as a direct consequence of the actions foreseen in the SNaP or through the complementary actions financed by other means mobilised in parallel to the SNaP;
  • the area covered by measures, the number of sites, the relevance of these sites in terms of species and habitat types within their bio-geographical regions;
  • the expected improvement of the conservation status of species and habitats with particular attention to those habitats and species that are considered as priority and/or those that have been reported as being in unfavorable conservation status; and
  • the expected improvement on the long term capacity to monitor and assess the status of species and habitats of EU importance (art 11 and 17 of the Habitats Directive).
  • actions planned in order to effectively mainstream nature conservation objectives in the territory targeted by the SNAP into other policy areas and financing instruments.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies)
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
  • non-EU countries:
    • listed EEA countries and countries associated to the LIFE Programme
  • the coordinator must be established in an eligible country.

For more information, visit European Commission.