PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The collapse of biodiversity observed at the global level can also be observed in France. The causes are well identified and are due to human practices that are unfavourable to biodiversity, as well as to climate change. The biodiversity conservation policies implemented over the past 50 years are no longer sufficient to halt this decline. Only major changes in the way we live and produce could reverse this trend.
France has adopted a National Strategy for Biodiversity for the period 2022-2030 (NBS2030), which affirms the need to involve the whole of French society in making this change.
The NBS2030 has three main goals: protect biodiversity, restore biodiversity, and living with nature by promoting its benefits. The levers of action to implement this strategy are multiple: regulatory, fiscal, financial, or incentive. These levers provide for strong involvement of public and private actors, at national and local levels.
The NBS2030 is organised around four structural axes which aim to achieve one or more of the strategy's objectives:
1. reduce pressures on biodiversity
2. restore degraded biodiversity wherever possible
3. mobilise all stakeholders
4. guarantee the tools to achieve theses ambitions
This ambitious strategy requires the mobilisation of a large number of stakeholders and significant synergy between biodiversity policies and other related policies (e.g., adaptation to climate change, energy transition and sectoral policies). This change of model and scale requires significant human resources.
The project is also expected to contribute significantly to the 2021-2027 Prioritised Action Framework for Natura 2000 in France. It will cover mainland France (except the Grand Est Region, which is already covered by the LIFE Integrated Project Biodiv’Est) as well as 5 outermost regions, namely Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Mayotte, Martinique, and Reunion. The present project builds on the results of the LIFE BTP "Biodiversity integrated into territories" preparatory project carried out by the Office français de la biodiversité (OFB) over 2 years (2021-2022).
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE BIODIV’France project is to fully implement the National Strategy for Biodiversity for the period 2022-2030 (NBS2030) in order to halt the decline in biodiversity and improve the conservation status of habitats and species (particularly of community interest) in mainland France and the French overseas territories.
To do so, the project intends to provide support at national and regional levels to enable dialogue between all stakeholders, supply engineering and facilitate the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy through the mobilisation of complementary funding from European, national, and regional sources.
It is organised around 6 specific objectives:
- ensure that biodiversity issues are systematically considered in local projects by supporting local authorities;
- improve the conservation status of habitats and species of community interest in protected areas, including Natura 2000 sites;
- encourage changes in practices that integrate biodiversity by stakeholders in the main sectors that impact biodiversity;
- increase awareness of the challenges of protecting biodiversity among citizens;
- facilitate access to biodiversity-related jobs and promote skills development for all stakeholders;
- encourage more projects by leveraging European, national, and regional structural funds to finance biodiversity.
RESULTS
The project's expected results are listed below.
Specific objective 1. Ensure that biodiversity issues are systematically taken into account in local projects by supporting local authorities:
- reduction of land consumption by half over the period 2021-2031 compared to the period 2011-2021
- decrease of 20% of the fragmentation of natural environments
- restoration of 13 priority structures hindering water ecological continuity, identified in LIFE BIODIV'France
- 2/3 of Local Authorities have integrated biodiversity issues in at least one strategic document
- increase in expenditure per region of national and European budgets dedicated to biodiversity projects over the period 2024-2030 compared to the period 2014-2020
Specific objective 2. Improve the conservation status of habitats and species of community interest in protected areas, including Natura 2000 sites:
- overall improvement in the conservation status of habitats of community interest on land in France and by biogeographical zone:
- decrease of the percentage of forest habitats of community interest that are in an unfavourable conservation status, from 82% to 70%
- decrease of the percentage of agroecosystems and croplands habitats of community interest in an unfavourable conservation status, from 77% to 70%
- decrease of wetlands of community interest in an unfavourable status, from 94% to 70%
- decrease of coastal habitats of community interest in an unfavourable status, from 92% to 70%
- 5% of the surface area of the French Mediterranean waters designated under strong protection
Specific objective 3. Bringing about changes in practices that integrate biodiversity from stakeholders in the main sectors that impact biodiversity:
- maintaining of the number of common birds specialised in agricultural areas
- 20% increase of the number of common birds specialised in forest areas
- 50,000 km increase in the length of hedgerows and hedged farmland
- 5,000 businesses that have taken biodiversity into account in their value chain
- 18% of the Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) in organic farming
- maintenance of the surface area of permanent grasslands and grassland biodiversity
- 100 projects in favour of forest biodiversity implemented
- reduction of the impacts of renewable energy projects on species and natural habitats
- significant reduction in pressure on fisheries resources in French Guyana
Specific objective 4. Increase awareness of the challenges of biodiversity protection among citizens:
- 5,000 young people commit themselves annually to a nature volunteer mission
- 50% of accessible Natura 2000 terrestrial or coastal sites contain at least one educational area
- positive evolution of the citizen engagement barometer between 2027 and 2032
Specific objective 5. Facilitate access to biodiversity jobs and promote the development of skills for all stakeholders:
- biodiversity professions are visible in all media related to orientation
- 8 impacting sectors benefit from training to limit their specific impacts on biodiversity and the climate, and to adapt their practices and economic models
Specific objective 6. Leverage European, national, and regional structural funds to finance biodiversity:
- EUR 283 m from complementary funds mobilised for the implementation of the National Strategy for Biodiversity
