Project name: Development of Prioritized Action Framework – PAF – financial planning for the implementation of Natura 2000 protection measures
Client: Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development
Period: 09/2019 – 01/2021
Location: Croatia
Prioritised action frameworks (PAFs) are strategic multiannual planning tools, aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the measures that are needed to implement the EU-wide Natura 2000 network and its associated green infrastructure, specifying the financing needs for these measures, and linking them to the corresponding EU funding programmes.
The legal basis for the PAF is Article 8 (1) of the Habitats Directive, which requires Member States, therefore Croatia, to send, as appropriate, to the Commission their estimates relating to the European Union co-financing which they consider necessary to meet their following obligations in relation to Natura 2000:
- to establish the necessary conservation measures involving, if need be, appropriate management plans specifically designed for the sites or integrated into other development plans,
- to establish appropriate statutory, administrative, or contractual measures that correspond to the ecological requirements of the natural habitat types in Annex I and the species in Annex II present on the sites.
In the document are also considered financial needs and priority measures associated with bird species in the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designated pursuant to the EU Birds Directive 2009/147/EEC, as well as financing needs related to wider green infrastructure.
The activities consisted of:
- Component 1: Preparation of the first draft of the PAF in Croatian and English, including data collection and analysis;
- Component 2: Implementation of stakeholder consultations, which included the preparation, organization and implementation of nine stakeholder meetings;
- Component 3: Preparation of the final draft of the PAF in Croatian and English.
