What is the European Natura 2000 Award?
This pan-European Award recognises excellence in the management of Natura 2000 sites and conservation achievements, showcasing the added value of the network for local economies, and increasing public awareness about Europe's valuable natural heritage.
The Natura 2000 network covers an enormous variety of different sites across the continent. It preserves and enhances Europe’s biodiversity, safeguarding it for future generations, and it provides a range of important benefits, helping nature to help us.
But despite its size and its many successes, many people have never even heard of it.
Celebrating a shared objective
This is why the European Commission has launched the annual Natura 2000 Award. The aim is to show people what the network is, how it works, and what it does to preserve Europe’s biodiversity. The award recognises good practices at Natura 2000 sites in five different categories: Communication, Socio-Economic Benefits, Conservation, Reconciling Interests / Perceptions, and Cross-border Cooperation and Networking. The Citizens’ Award also recognises the public’s favourite finalist.
Anyone directly involved in Natura 2000 – businesses, authorities, NGOs, volunteers, land owners, educational institutions or individuals – can apply for the award. Applications are assessed by a team of independent experts, with each year’s winners announced on or around Natura 2000 Day (21 May) of each year. The winners will be invited to a high level Ceremony in Brussels to receive their awards, and will get support to organise high-profile local events attended by representatives of the European Commission.
What does nature do for you?
A lot! Have you ever considered how healthy freshwater ecosystems provide clean water? How peat bogs help store carbon, or how forests improve air and soil quality, for example? Natura 2000 protects these functions and many more besides, providing space for sustainable recreational activities such as hiking and fishing, and economic opportunities such as timber and food.