The LIFE Programme in Romania

Its been 26 years since the launch in Romania of the LIFE Programme, a financing instrument of the European Union for protecting nature.

România Internațional, 27.04.2018, 13:40

It’s been 26 years since the launch in Romania of the
LIFE Programme, a financing instrument of the European Union for protecting
nature. The programme’s general aim is to contribute to the successful
application of EU policy and legislation on the environment by co-funding
European added value projects. This project has helped restore forests and
aquatic habitats, saving numerous endangered species. Many sites are also
protected through the Natura 2000 network. Europe has today 27,000 such sites,
which cover 18% of EU’s territory. We found out more from Madalina Cozma,
project manager with the Ministry of the Environment:

The EU believes it is very important to have a
financial instrument dedicated to biodiversity and the protection of a clean
and healthy environment. Fortunately, things have expanded, as the EU has
realised it’s a also good thing to support productive activities, so Life
Programme financing also covers this aspect, alongside the conservation of
biodiversity and the environment. We should keep in mind that productive
activities, which create jobs, have to be in harmony with a clean environment.
We need industrial production in harmony with EU directives for environmental
protection and conservation. The LIFE Programme also deals with activities
aimed at climate, but also information and governance. Therefore, people have
to be informed on the procedures involved in this programme, the way in which
they can influence European legislation, but also the way in which they can act
regionally.

Romania has valuable ecosystems, recognised at
a European level, covering a surface area of 1.6 million hectares, as well as
the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve with its 580,000 hectares. Protected natural
areas in Romania, including the Natura 2000 sites, account for 23% of the
country’s surface area. The new LIFE Programme supports parties interested in
protecting nature and conserving endangered species. The new integrated LIFE
projects aim to put into application environment and climate legislation, in
order to tackle issues such as water shortages, climate change, the circular
economy and loss of biodiversity. Here is Madalina Cozma from the Romanian
Ministry of the Environment:

We are doing everything in our power to inform
interested parties, potential beneficiaries and the people running projects
about the way in which they can be implemented, what they should do and how to
comply with EU provisions. New elements were launched on 18 April. This year
we’ll be able to upload the projects on the EU’s digital platform in two
stages: we can make a concept note presenting what we as potential
beneficiaries can do and informing the people financing our ideas for projects.
This means writing within a template provided by the EU, about ten pages long,
where to express our ideas and provide a financial evaluation. This document is
then posted on the EU’s digital platform until June 10. In October the EU
provides an answer as to whether the idea is worth financing, then we write the
project in long form, the template for which can also be found on the EU
website, and then we submit the project and we’ll get an answer in January
2019. In July 2019 we can begin implementing the project. We have a National Point
of Contact within the Ministry of the Environment, where you can call the line
dialling 021.4089609, or you can go to the website of the ministry, where you
have all the data.

Since 1992, when the LIFE Programme was
launched, 3,942 projects have been implemented, with 52 projects in Romania in
all areas covered by the programme. Madalina Cozma gave us a few examples:

Projects dealing with conservation and
biodiversity. Here we have valuable projects recognised at the European level,
such as the Management and Protection of Large Carnivores. We also have
projects aimed at protecting birds. We have projects such as the one for
protecting a rare species of bird, a project developed together with our
colleagues in Hungary and a bird protection NGO. We have a project, which we
plan to continue, regarding another species of bird that was all but extinct in
Europe, endemic to the western pat of the country, from the Banat region to the
Pannonian Basin. This was a very successful project, which we also presented at
EU level. We continue to strive to attract as many potential beneficiaries as
possible and to explain the role of these types of financing and how they can
apply within the programme. With this programme, we want to access as much
funding as we can so as to be able to conserve a large part of Romania’s
treasure trove of nature and biodiversity.

The financial package for the application of
the LIFE Programme for 2014-2020 is over 3 billion euros, compared to 2 billion
euros for the 2007-2013 interval.