EECONET
EECONET Action Fund (EAF) is a Dutch nature conservation foundation . Its aim is to create a pan-European ecological network by supporting semi-governmental organizations such as national parks and non-governmental organizations in leasing or buying land. EAF is supported by a number of nature conservation organizations working across Europe.
So far, more than 160,000 hectares in 15 countries have been secured for the ecological network through 96 projects through the support of the EAF. 85 projects have already been completed.
Pan-European Ecological Network
At the conference Conserving Europe's Natural Heritage: Towards a European Ecological Network , which took place in Maastricht in 1993 , 267 participants from 31 European countries and 26 international organizations gathered and discussed the development of European biological and landscape diversity. An important topic was fragmentation and habitat loss , as well as environmental pollution and the impact of climate change on nature in Europe. The EECONET (the European Ecological Network) or PEEN (the Pan European Ecological Network) was born out of the insight that action must be taken quickly against the negative trends .
The specialty is that the network seeks co-operative actions all over Europe . The strategic component in nature conservation in Europe and internationally is considered to be particularly important. EECONet sees itself as a conceptual and operational network to implement this insight into real nature conservation action.
That is why the organization aims at proactive conservation . The network aims to achieve measurable success with the goal of natural ecosystems through the following direct goals:
- the identification of key areas to protect landscape types and species.
- the creation of corridors and stepping stones to maintain the coherence of ecosystems.
- To carry out landscape restoration in order to create new habitats and to guarantee spatial possibilities for the distribution and migration of species.
- To create buffer zones to seal off core areas and corridors from external harmful use. The quality of life and the environment in the landscapes is to be increased.
Projects
The foundation supports many projects of various sizes across Europe. One focus of the work lies in the largely still "intact" landscapes of South-East and Eastern Europe. Due to the traditional and therefore mostly extensive agriculture, many landscapes have been preserved in the state of the 19th century and have a "species inventory" that has long since disappeared in Central Europe. One example is the project on Karagol Bay in the Dnester Delta , which aims to protect the Tarchankut area in the west of the Crimean peninsula . The foundation supports the creation of the Nizhnednistrovs'kiy National Park (Dnester Delta) in Odessa Oblast .
Structure of the EAF
The foundation is a joint project of the Coastal and Marine Union (EUCC), EUROSITE (European union of site management organizations), Euronatur (European Natural Heritage Fund) and the ECNC ( European Center for Nature Conservation ). The EAF is led by a council ("board") in which representatives of the member organizations and an independent president (does not come from the member organizations) are represented. Since 1995 the headquarters of the foundation and the EAF secretariat have been located at the Coastal and Marine Union (EUCC) in Leiden (Netherlands). EAF works under the umbrella of NatureNet Europe.
Topics that the EAF deals with or that are related to the work of the EAF are: