The policy instrument targeted by POT is the Provincial Territorial Coordination Masterplan (TCP), which is a planning tool ensuring coordination of and territorial links between Municipal Planning (100 Municipalities in the Province) and the regional and national authorities by integrating policies in several strategic domains, including biodiversity. It places the provincial ecological network (“HABITAT Directive” 92/43/CEE) in the focus of its strategic approach towards biodiversity, ensuring protection, promotion and planning of an otherwise fragmented distribution of natural areas.

Relevant objectives of TCP relate to the a) reorganisation of territorial governance, effective local development policies and services, b) protection & promotion of natural resources, ensuring sustainable development and c) protection of biodiversity of ecosystems and their connectivity.

POT will target Section 13 of the TCP that regulates the natural areas of the territory, the strategy for the preservation and enhancement of the natural heritage, and the coordination with other competent bodies, including Municipalities, the Region and the State. Within section 13, POT aspires to increase the involvement of citizens in the protection of their biodiversity and enhancement of its ecosystem services through a structured long-term approach towards participatory governance. This is already reflected in the #weResilient strategy, which complements the TCP as an implementation oriented document.

HAR is taking part in the elaboration of the Hasmas Mountains Zonal Urban Plan and the related Local Norms of Urbanism (PUZ) in partnership with Hășmaș Community Development Association, which HAR is a member of.

The Zonal Urban Plan regulates the organisation of the street networks, the manner of utilisation of land, development of the zonal infrastructure, legal status and circulation of lands, protection of historic and natural sites.

The Zonal Urban Plan includes the Natura2000 area of the Bicaz-Gorges – Hășmaș Mountain National Park, the Natura 2000 Management Plan of which is under revision now. The owner of the Management Plan is the Administration of the Bicaz-Gorges – Hășmaș Mountain National Park.

The Management Plan determines the manner of implementation of protection, use and management of the protected areas, guidelines and priorities for protection and preservation of natural values of the protected area as well as development guidelines, considering the needs of the local population. Legal entities, entrepreneurs and individuals are obliged to perform activities in the protected area in accordance with the Management Plan.

The Zonal Urban Plan is a new policy instrument that includes the sustainable management of protected areas and ecosystem services. It needs to be refined so as to be aligned with the Natura2000 management plans.

The policy instrument targeted in the CIBioGo project, the ERDF Comunidad Valenciana OP 2021-27, is coordinated and implemented by the General Directorate of European Funds at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Model of the Valencia Regional Government (VALENCIA), which participates in the project implementation as APA together with the Commonwealth of L’Horta Sud (HOR).

The ERDF Comunidad Valenciana OP 2021-27 is still at the drafting stage, but it is expected to be approved by the time the CIBioGo project starts.

No official data on objectives and budget allocation are yet known, thus the impact of CIBioGO cannot yet be quantified. As a reference, in the previous ERDF Comunidad Valenciana OP 2014-20, the priority for environmental projects took up 10% of the policy instrument. Currently, thematic concentration for 2021-27 requires at least 30% of the budget to be dedicated to environment, thus of the allocated 2,472.7 million EUR through the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework for the development of its operational programs. This is a threefold increase in terms of financing compared to what was allocated for the previous financial period.

This indicates a significant increase of focus on biodiversity protection, which in turn calls for novel ideas and approaches to feed the policy instrument. The General Directorate of European Funds at VALENCIA is highly committed towards using the new knowledge and experience gained through CIBioGO the design of new projects.

The development of the Vidzeme Planning Region Development Programme 2022-2027 started with the decision of VID Development Council of 27.09.2019/2 in accordance with the requirements of the regulatory enactments of the Republic of Latvia. It has been developed in a highly participative process, extending the dialogue to different regional stakeholders to design objectives and actions that are anchored in the region’s capacities and existing opportunities. Citizens, municipal specialists, NGOs, ministries, industry experts, educational institutions, entrepreneurs took part in the process.

The Development Programme focuses on biodiversity in Target No.1 and in directions of actions RV1 and RV2. Target No.1 seeks to enhance the management and conservation efforts of protected areas and natural ecosystems. RV1 seeks to protect, and enhance conservation and smart management of biodiversity. The tasks under RV1 include the promotion of biodiversity-friendly management practices in urban and rural areas and raising public awareness about sustainable development and smart management of environmental resources. RV2 seeks to involve society in the governance and management of biodiversity. Its tasks include strengthening the role of society in preservation efforts, strengthening the capacity of municipal specialists in natural capital conservation and public involvement, and educating society and promoting behavioural change towards biodiversity and ecosystem services management.

SIFOR manages the processes of forest-management planning, including hunting management. The Biennial Plan for Hunting Management is one of the 15 regional forest management plans drawn up for a 2-year period. It prescribes the level and structure of biodiversity management and the extent of work in the environment for each hunting management area.

It is based on a 10-year long-term framework plan that includes an analysis of the past and present state of management of wild game populations and their environment, and defines the overall objectives and measures to be taken to achieve them. It describes the state of forests and their development trends, including an analysis of past forest management practices. The next biennial plan will be valid starting in 2023.

The process of adopting management documents for forest biodiversity including wild ungulates requires the inclusion of a wide range of stakeholders and state bodies, balancing different interests.

The Regional Policy Statement is a policy guidance instrument of the Government of Wallonia that sets out the main lines of regional policy, bringing together strategic economic, social and environmental guidelines. WAL will focus on the specific chapter devoted to nature and biodiversity, namely the 360° Biodiversity Strategy of the Nature Declaration. The Strategy is the result of a major collaborative effort between the regional administration, scientific experts and representatives of the associative and entrepreneurial world.

The central elements of the strategy are the implementation of a functional Walloon ecological network and the further development of protected areas, as well as the implementation of management plans for Natura2000 sites (in alignment with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030). The Strategy aims to implement these elements with the involvement of stakeholders and citizens, ensuring that the public is made widely aware of the importance of the preservation of biodiversity.

The strategy also sets out to involve negotiations at the local level after the scientific processes of defining the ecological network, to involve nature conservation stakeholders, especially those of Natura2000 sites in the improvement of the management, monitoring and data collection related to protected sites, and to remove socio-economic obstacles to inclusion and public support.