NaturaConnect - Designing a resilient and coherent Trans-European Network for Nature and People

NaturaConnect将与主要利益攸关方共同开发知识、工具和能力建设方案，以支持成员国在现有保护区和绿色和蓝色基础设施网络的基础上，实施具有生态代表性、复原力强和联系良好的跨欧洲自然网络(TEN-N)。通过欧洲规模的研究、参与和传播活动以及一套六个案例研究，我们将激发利益相关者对保护目标的看法和偏好，挖掘保护区管理和筹资机制的最佳实践，动员数据并测试NaturaConnect产生的10-N空间优先分析和工具。这解决了欧盟自然立法健康检查确定的两大障碍：缺乏利益相关者意识和合作，以及知识不足和获得现有资金机制的机会。NaturaConnect将进一步解决第三个主要障碍，即关于生物多样性分布、变化驱动因素和保护解决方案的知识有限。为了解决这一问题，NaturaConnect召集了一个由欧洲顶尖科学家、政策专家和非政府组织组成的联盟，以产生和调动相关数据和知识。这包括在整个欧洲以及在当前和未来的气候和土地利用下，改进和应用关于生物多样性、生态系统服务和环境变化的最先进模型。配备改进的数据、知识、模型和空间规划方法，我们将确定保护区覆盖率、连通性和应对气候和土地利用变化的复原力方面的差距。我们将进一步制定扩大保护区的方案，建立生态走廊等互联互通区域，以弥补这些差距，从而为实现十个N提供蓝图。NaturaConnect将进一步为所有相关规模的TEN-N的政策、融资和实施提供知识和决策支持。UKRI正在支持分析的一个组成部分，以涵盖整个欧洲的关键生物多样性区域(KBA)，这些区域将被纳入这些分析的结果中。

Together with key stakeholders, NaturaConnect will co-develop knowledge, tools and capacity building programmes to support Member States in implementing an ecologically representative, resilient and well-connected trans-European nature network (TEN-N) that builds on the existing network of protected areas and Green and Blue Infrastructure. Through research, engagement and dissemination activities at the European scale and in a set of six case studies, we will elicit stakeholders’ visions and preferences about conservation objectives, tap into best practices in protected areas management and funding mechanisms, mobilize data and test the TEN-N spatial prioritization analyses and tools produced by NaturaConnect. This addresses two major obstacles identified by the EU Nature Legislation Fitness Check: lack of stakeholder awareness and cooperation, and insufficient knowledge and access to existing funding mechanisms. NaturaConnect will further address a third major obstacle, limited availability of knowledge on biodiversity distribution, drivers of change and conservation solutions. To address this, NaturaConnect brings together a consortium of the top European scientists, policy experts and NGOs to produce and mobilize relevant data and knowledge. This includes refining and applying state-of-the-art models on biodiversity, ecosystem services and environmental change across Europe and under current and future climate and land-use. Equipped with improved data, knowledge, models and spatial planning methods we will identify gaps in protected area coverage, connectivity and resilience under climate and land-use change. We will further develop scenarios for expanding protected areas, establish ecological corridors and other areas of connectivity to address these gaps, thereby offering a blue-print for realizing TEN-N. NaturaConnect will further provide knowledge and decision support for policy, financing and implementation of TEN-N at all relevant scales. UKRI is supporting a component of the analysis to scope Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) across Europe that will be incorporated in the results of these analyses.