D2C DaRe to Connect - Supporting Danube Region’s ecological Connectivity by linking Natura 2000 areas along the Green Belt
What is the GreenBelt?
With the European Green Belt, an extraordinary ecological network and living memorial landscape has been developed along the former Iron Curtain. In the area of the INTERREG Danube Transnational Programme (DTP) the European Green Belt connects 10 countries. It forms a backbone of the Pan-European ecological network and can provide a significant contribution to EU Green Infrastructure (GI) and TEN-G.
We dare to connect!
However, the Green Belt still suffers from a certain level of not sufficiently connected habitats and valuable landscapes. The main objective of the „DaRe to Connect (D2C)“ project is therefore the implementation of the EU Danube Strategy by further transnational development of the connectivity of the Green Belt as backbone of EU Green infrastructure (EU GI) by maintaining and enhancing ecosystems and their services.
Technology, nature and people
There are several main parts of the project:
- The project defines feasible ecological corridors between Natura 2000 areas on transnational and macro-regional level by innovative GIS and remote sensing approaches, partly based on newly available EU-Copernicus (Sentinel) data.
- Then, the project will provide concrete guidance and recommendations on planning and establishment of transnational ecological corridors connecting Natura 2000 areas on local and regional level, derived from pilot actions.
- Results will be mainstreamed via a transnational strategic vision "Green Belt in the Danube Region 2030” to be endorsed by national political stakeholders.
- The improvement of capacities of responsible public bodies and NGOs will lead to better understanding as well as to an improved knowledge exchange and cooperation.
- PR-work and events will give local/regional people and politicians an understanding of how connectivity and ESS can contribute to human wellbeing.
Project participation and learning interaction will enhance individual capacities of the project partners' staff and other involved institutions to further develop the European Green Belt in the DTP area.
The project activities are focused mainly in 6 pilot regions:
You can read more about pilot regions here.
- Start date
- 01-06-2018
- End date
- 31-05-2021
- Budget in Euro
- Overall: 2086654,1
- ERDF Contribution: 1684031,98
- IPA Contribution: 89624
- ENI Contribution: 0
- Call number
- Call 2
- Priority
- Environment and culture responsible Danube region
- Specific objective
- Foster the restoration and management of ecological corridors
Library
| Filename | Date of upload | |
|---|---|---|
| List of maps | 04-04-2021 22:29:44 | |
| Map GB_LeastCost_Map1_GER_CZ_A3 | 04-04-2021 22:29:05 | |
| Map GB_LeastCost_Map2_AUT_CZ_SK_A3 | 04-04-2021 22:27:56 | |
| Map GB_LeastCost_Map3_AUT_HU_SLO_A3 | 04-04-2021 22:26:49 | |
| Map GB_LeastCost_Map4_HR_HU_A3 | 04-04-2021 22:25:30 | |
Project Partners
| Name | Type | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bavarian branch of BUND, Friends of the Earth Germany, BUND Project Office Green Belt | Lead partner | melanie.kreutz@bund-naturschutz.de | GERMANY |
| Ametyst Non-governmental organization | ERDF partner | marinakova@ametyst21.cz | CZECH REPUBLIC |
| Environment Agency Austria | ERDF partner | maria.stejskal-tiefenbach@umweltbundesamt.at | AUSTRIA |
| University of Vienna, Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology | ERDF partner | thomas.wrbka@univie.ac.at | AUSTRIA |
| Őrség National Park Directorate | ERDF partner | i.szentirmai@gmail.com | HUNGARY |
Project News
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D2C - Final conference - Save the Date
- 16-09-2021
The date of the Dare to Connect final conference is set to November 10, 2021. Carefully considering COVID-19 pandemic development in Central Europe we decided to organize the conference online. On one hand we are missing rare opportunity to meet...
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D2C - Stork's story
- 01-09-2021
The Dare to Connect project is all about a species migration. It regards not only ground migration but also water and air ones. Migration is a subject of monitoring of natural scientists and one of methods is bird ringing. It is simple, a bird...
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D2C - Excursion “Šumava Meadows” for stakeholders
- 27-07-2021
Czech project partner Ametyst decided to organise a face to face excursion in the middle of June after few on-line meetings with stakeholders. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, the Nature Conservation Agency of...
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D2C - When plans come true: stepping stones for the Marsh fritillary start functioning
- 01-07-2021
One of the main objectives of the DaRe to Connect project in the Őrség-Goričko pilot area was to connect the populations of the endangered Marsh fritillary butterfly between Slovenia and Hungary. After a year of intensive field survey, it...
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D2C - Collaboration in fight with invasive species
- 09-06-2021
Migration of species has got various consequences, not only good but also bad. One of them is a spreading of invasive species. Romanian D2C project partner Iron Gates Nature Park Administration has launched a collaboration with the...
