News

Great news in these turbulent times: Two landscapes in North Macedonia could soon become protected areas on the Green Belt: The Shar Mountains a national park and the Osogovo Mountains a protected area. But it is not as easy as it seems.

Slovenia is home to several bat species. They mostly occur in forest environments. But they also feel comfortable in human-made environments. So, it’s time to harmonize the conservation of cultural goods and nature. The Gorička Krajina-project addresses both.

Unfortunately, we have heard some bad news from Slovakia where the EGB is facing a crucial test: City planners of Bratislava want to extend the city as close to the border with Austria as possible, which means that the Green Belt section would largely disappear on the Slovakian side. The construction of the new "Nesto" district shall begin as early as 2021.

Sakar Mountain is one of the Pearls in the Balkan Green Belt, located in the border area of Bulgaria with Turkey and Greece. The area encompasses one of the largest overlapping Natura 2000 sites in Bulgaria. Here, the NGO Green Balkans have traditionally worked for over 15 years to protect rare species of birds of prey and their habitats. How domestic animals help to conserve these species can now be observed with the concept of transhumance.

The untouched nature, beauty, and inaccessibility of the Prokletije Mountains in the southernmost of the Dinaric Alps - one of the pearls of the European Green Belt - are main reasons why this place has become a favourite destination for an increasing number of tourists, especially mountaineers and alpinists. To improve the service quality to tourists, a project has just been launched in Montenegro.

On this year’s World Wetlands Day, February 2nd, many conservationists and the interested public joined the 21st International Hike along the Mura River. The newly established Mura-Drava-Danube UNESCO Biosphere Reserve shines in its best light and let many people experience such significant river landscape in the heart of Europe.

Aim of the BUND (Friends of the Earth Germany) project "Cross-linking Green Belt" (10/2019-09/2025) is to connect the Green Belt with significant state- and nationwide as well as European ecological axes. Starting from the Green Belt as an ecological backbone, “ribs” will serve as surrounding landscapes. The question is: How can we work together with farmers, land care associations, municipalities and nature reserve administrations to develop landscape elements for an ecological network and preserve them permanently?

How interesting is research on the European Green Belt? On the occasion of this year’s World Wetlands Day, primary school children took chances to discover this question. Their curiosity seemed endless.

On 25th of November 2019, the vice chair organisation of the European Green Belt Association, Rete Italiana, together with the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italian National Focal Point) invited institutions to strengthen the collaboration among local stakeholders being active in the Italian-Slovenian section of the European Green Belt. Actors are ready to make a step forward.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the EGBA discussed the many opportunities, but also challenges that arise with the conservation of the European Green Belt in the context of Green Infrastructure. A lively breakfast debate was held on 19 November 2019 in Brussels under the theme: Bridging boundaries to protect Europe’s longest green network – 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall - Transforming the Iron Curtain into the European Green Belt (EGB) as a significant part of European Green Infrastructure.