# Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/210 of 12 February 2018 on the adoption of the LIFE multiannual work programme for 2018-2020 (Text with EEA relevance), Division 3.2: Priority area Nature and Biodiversity

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

Pursuant to Article 11(a) of the LIFE Regulation, the project topics corresponding to this priority area and the related thematic priorities listed in Annex III to the LIFE Regulation, shall pursue the specific objective ‘to contribute to the development and implementation of Union policy and legislation in the area of nature and biodiversity, including the Union Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, and Council Directive 92/43/EEC and Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, by applying, developing, testing and demonstrating approaches, best practices and solutions’.
LIFE has been a key tool supporting the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives during the past 25 years and has been instrumental and in some cases crucial to ensure the establishment of the Natura 2000 network. The Nature Directives' fitness check and the Action plan for nature, people, and the economy underline the need to increase funding for this priority area, which is catered for by the Delegated Regulation amending Article 9 paragraph 4 of the LIFE Regulation. LIFE Nature and Biodiversity will continue to focus its financial resources on Natura 2000 to ensure full delivery of the commitments concerning target 1 of the Biodiversity strategy, and, at the same time, promote projects addressing targets 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy to 2020.
LIFE Nature and LIFE Biodiversity projects are intended to complement each other and, where relevant, other nature- and biodiversity-related thematic priorities, e.g. when a project targets Natura 2000, where relevant, it should also address invasive alien species. Thus, in order to avoid inconsistencies, principles applying under one of the thematic priorities also apply under the complementary one. If projects implementing Targets 2, 3, 4 and/or 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 take place (even partly) in Natura 2000 sites, the measures proposed must be in line with the site's conservation objectives, the site's management plan or equivalent instruments and/or the Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designation act. In addition, LIFE projects targeting forests should also provide data on the relevant indicators under criteria 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Updated Pan-European Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management.
The following project topics contributing to Target 1 of the Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 to fully implement the Birds and Habitats Directives are given priority:
1.. Improvement of the conservation status of habitat types or species of Community Interest under the EU Birds and Habitats directives, targeting Natura 2000 sites proposed or designated for these habitat types or species .
2.. Projects aimed at improving the conservation status of habitat types or species of Community Interest, provided, their status is not ‘favourable/secure and not declining’ or ‘unknown’ according to the most recent overall assessments that Member States have provided at the relevant geographic level according to Article 17 of the Habitats Directive or to the most recent assessments according to Article 12 Birds Directive and EU-level bird assessments.
3.. Implementing the marine component of the Habitats and Birds Directives and related provisions under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive descriptor 1, where such projects focus on one or several of the following actions:
completing and finalising national inventories for setting up the offshore marine Natura 2000 network of sites,
restoration and management of marine Natura 2000 sites, including the preparation and implementation of site management plans,
actions addressing species-, habitat- or site-related conflicts between marine conservation and fishermen or other ‘marine users’, as well as actions which combine conservation measures with a sustainable use of Natura 2000 sites, and/or
demonstrative or innovative approaches to assess or monitor the impact of human activities on critical marine habitats and species and their application as a tool to guide concrete conservation measures.
The following project topics focus on the implementation of Targets 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, in as far as they primarily target the general and specific objectives pursuant to Articles 3 and 11of the LIFE Regulation and thus can be funded under the LIFE programme.
Priority will be given to the project topics listed below:
1.. Development and implementation of Green Infrastructure plans and actions improving the condition of ecosystems and the services they provide and/or the connectivity between Natura 2000 sites and/or other protected areas.
Development and application of Green Infrastructure-related widely replicable methods and/or techniques that effectively mitigate the negative impacts of energy or transport infrastructure on biodiversity by enhancing connectivity. These techniques and/or methods should be more cost-effective than qualitatively equivalent solutions already offered on the market, and, where relevant, lead to free shared solutions or the development of technical standards.
2.. Development and application of tools aimed at integrating biodiversity into financial and business decisions so as to ensure, through the conservation and restoration of biodiversity carried out during the project, no net loss of biodiversity and/or enhanced income delivering ecosystem services .
3.. Targeting threatened species or habitats that are not included in the annexes of the Habitats Directive but have a status of ‘endangered’ or worse in the European species or habitats Red Lists or, for those species not covered by the European Red Lists, in the IUCN Red List.
4.. Addressing Invasive Alien Species by testing and implementing the following three steps on an appropriate spatial scale within a comprehensive framework:
preventing the introduction of invasive alien species, in particular by tackling the priority pathways of their introduction,
establishing an early detection and rapid eradication system, and
eradicating, controlling or containing established invasive alien species.
The projects should be set up to improve existing — or introduce new — technical, administrative and/or legal frameworks on the relevant level, in particular in relation to, but not limited to, the species included on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern pursuant to Article 4(1) of the Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Explanatory note: Where a step has already been addressed independently of the project or it is not possible to address it in the project context, the project actions shall at least be clearly situated in a broader framework that links all three steps.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2018/210/annex/division/3/division/3.2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2018-210/annex/division-3/division-3.2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.