Europe

The EU policy lab is working to identify how private land conservation can contribute to biodiversity targets and how we can incentivise and compensate private landowners.

To conserve and restore biodiversity by 2030, the EU Biodiversity Strategy calls for at least 10% of publicly defined land to have strong protection measures and the remaining 20% to be complemented by other forms of legal protection. 

The EU policy lab studies how we can encourage private landowners to contribute to biodiversity.

Private Land Conservation is an umbrella term for the voluntary measures enacted by these private parties. These measure come in various forms:

• In a land stewardship, private landowners can pass land management to land stewards. In Catalonia, around 80 NGOs and other agencies took care of up to 62,000 hectares of private land. 

• In privately protected areas, landowners set up a management plan for land conservation, often building on the expertise and financial support of public agencies or nature conservation organisations. In Flanders, private landowners can draw up a nature management plan which defines how and by whom their land will be managed. This includes financial compensation for their efforts. 

• Conservation easements are voluntary agreements by private landowners to restrict the use of their land. In the Swedish Tullstorp stream project, farmers attributed the land along the local river to an association, while still owning the land.

In the EU Policy Lab, we will work with EU policymakers, policy advisors, landowners, nature conservation organisations and other stakeholders to explore how Private Land Conservation can contribute to Biodiversity goals.