10th Pan-European Green Belt Conference 2018

The 10^th Pan-European Green Belt Conference 2018 was held from October 15 to October 19 at the World Heritage Site Wartburg in the city of Eisenach/Germany. The conference was jointly organised by BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany), EuroNatur, the Thuringian Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation (TMUEN) and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN).

More than 120 representatives from NGOs and GOs coming from 21 adjacent countries as well as Korea and Liechtenstein were present. The aim of the conference was to provide a platform to exchange experiences and knowledge, as well as developing further joint activities and partnerships. In addition, the bi-annual General Assembly of the European Green Belt Association e.V. was organized in the context of the Green Belt Conference.

A thematic focus of the conference was the presentation and discussion of the results of the BfN-funded project "The Green Belt as Part of the Green Infrastructure" implemented by BUND and EuroNatur. Furthermore, approaches for better protection and development of the Green Belt Europe from the different regions were presented and discussed in presentations and a poster session on best practice examples. In addition, six workshops offered the opportunity for thematically focused cooperation and networking. As a joint message, the participants of the conference adopted the "Eisenach Resolution on the European Green Belt”.

Programme of the 10th Pan-European Green Belt Conference(pdf)

Opening and Welcome Speeches

Video message from Svenja Schulze, German Federal Environmental Minister

1st session: Update from the four regions of the European Green Belt(pdf)

2^nd session: European Green Belt as model for EU-level Green Infrastructure

• Definition of a spatial reference area of the European Green Belt (pdf), Petko Tzvetkov, Board of the European Green Belt Association and Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation

• Contribution of the European Green Belt to the implementation of EU-level Green Infrastructure (pdf), Werner Rolf, Landwärts

   

3rd session - panel discussion: The European Green Belt as Green Infrastructure: challenges, strategies and partnerships (pdf)

4^th session: Instruments to secure and improve the functionality of the European Green Belt 

• The Green Belt on the way to a National Nature Monument – BUND Thuringia´s campaign for local acceptance (pdf), Karin Kowol, BUND Thuringia
• The European Green Belt Factor – Dare to Connect (pdf), Melanie Kreutz, BUND Department Green Belt
• Stakeholder involvement in activities of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM): lessons and prospects (pdf), Mikhail Durkin, HELCOM
• Feasibility study: Green Belt Region Upper Palatinate (Bavaria) - Czech Republic (pdf), Peter Blum, Planning office Dipl.-Ing. Blum, landscape and spatial development
• The Prespa-Ohrid Nature Trust (PONT) – Financing transboundary conservation in Southeast Europe (pdf), Vasiliki Roumeliotou, Society for the Protection of Prespa, Greece

• Spectrum of actions along the Fennoscandian Green Belt - examples of implemented, ongoing and planned projects (pdf), Mikko Tiira, Metsähallitus, Parks and Wildlife Finland

   

5^th session – poster session: Sharing best practice examples

• The Green Belt, Predators and Semi-Domesticated Reindeer (pdf), Alfred Colpaert, University of Eastern Finland
• Fragmentation of Western Capercaillies’s Biotope in the Šumava Mountains and the Bavarian Forest (pdf), Ondřej Volf, Eva Volfová, Ametyst
• Goričko Landscape and guided hikes for nature experience (pdf), Gregor Domanjko, Stanislava Dešnik, Goričko Nature Park Public Institute
• Einsatz für das Grüne Band Thüringen (pdf), Stiftung Naturschutz Thüringen
• The return of white-tailed eagle (pdf), Ivan Darco Grlica, Natural History Society Drava
• Use of History in Ecotourism and Conservation in the Fennoscandian Green Belt (pdf), Maria Lähteenmäki, University of Eastern Finland
• Survey for a return of the European mink (Mustela lutreola) along the Bavarian-Czech Green Belt (pdf), Lisa Deak, Dr. Liana Geidezis, Melanie Kreutz, BUND Department Green Belt
• D2C - DaRe to Connect: Supporting Danube Region´s ecological Connectivity by linking Natura 2000 areas along the Green Belt (pdf), Martin Kuba, BUND Department Green Belt
• Feasibility Study Green Belt Region Upper Palatinate (Bavaria) – Czech Republic (pdf), Peter Blum, Planning Office Dipl-Ing. Blum, landscape and spatial development
• Improving the European Green Belt Initiative with an international photo contest: a preliminary proposal (pdf), Philippe Fayt, School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland
• Large-Scale Conservation Project, Green Belt Rodachtal-Lange Berge-Steinachtal (pdf), Stefan Beyer, Zweckverband Grünes Band Rodachtal - Lange Berge – Steinachtal
• Green Belt in Virovitica Podravina county, Croatia (pdf), Tatjana Arnold Sabo
• Spatial distribution of protected areas in Balkan Green Belt, border of Serbia with Romania (pdf), Tea Požar Department of Geography, University of Bamberg

• Cosing Gaps in the Green Belt Germany (pdf), Uwe Friedel, BUND Department Green Belt

   

6^th session – parallel working groups: The European Green Belt – today, tomorrow and beyond

• Report on the results of the working group session

• Hand-outs

   

Eisenach Resolution

Press articles (in German)

Full conference report (pdf barrier-free)