Good Wetland Agricultural Practices

Within the Guiding Agriculture Wetland Interaction (GAWI) project the Driver!Pressure!State! Impact!Response (DPSIR) approach has been adopted to describe and analyse agriculture!wetland interactions. The DPSIR approach provides a consistent framework to analyse the complex causal chain among drivers, pressures, state and impacts, and facilitates the targeted identification of response strategies aimed at improving the sustainability of wetlands

Opportunities to broaden bilateral relations between Egypt and the Netherlands in the areas of water management and agriculture : A Scoping Exercise

The report provides information based on which the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Cairo can detail its strategy for broadening the cooperation between Egypt and the Netherlands in the area of water management and agriculture. The mounting problems in the field of water resources management combined with the ambitious plans of the Egyptian government to develop the agricultural sector offer a wide variety of opportunities for the Dutch private sector and research institutes. However, seizing the opportunities will require strategic and careful planning of using the programmes and facilities available to promote Dutch–Egyptian cooperation. Strategic decisions on where to focus on and how to make optimal use of the programmes and facilities available have are still to be made by the embassy

Guidelines for assessing favourable conservation status of Natura 2000 species and habitat types in Bulgaria

This executive summary describes the methodology for assessing the favourable conservation status of N2000 habitats and species on site level in Bulgaria and gives guidelines for its application. The methodology was developed in the frame of the BBI/Matra project 2006/014 “Favourable Conservation Status of Natura 2000 Habitat types and Species in Bulgaria”. The project was generously supported by the Dutch government under the BBI/Matra programme, which is a combination of two international policy programs of the Dutch government. The objectives and financial resources of the BBI/Matra Programme fall within the remit of the Matra Social Transformation Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and under the International Policy Program on Biodiversity of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality

Towards an ecological network for the Carpathians

The Carpathian Biodiversity Information System (CBIS) and the proposal for an ecological network for the eastern part of the Carpathians are the two main outcomes of the project funded by the BBI Matra program of the Dutch government. This brochure presents information on how the CBIS was designed, and how the data stored can be retrieved and used. It also clarifies how the CBIS data were used to design the ecological network and, last but not least, it offers recommendations for the use of the proposed ecological network in supporting sustainable developmentin the Carpathians. Due to funding restrictions, the project focused on three east Carpathian countries: Romania, Serbia and Ukraine, which together host the largest area of the Carpathians (Fig. 2). Geographically, the Eastern Carpathians also include parts of the Carpathians located in Poland and Slovakia. Data collection in the Western Carpathians (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) will be completed by 2010 and is funded by a parallel project

Natural Climate Buffers: Promising Examples of Nature Based Solutions

Natural Climate Buffers (NCBs) are designated areas in which space is given to natural processes to contribute to the climate change adaptation and mitigation NBCs are also aimed at enhancing the specific biodiversity of each site. The idea for the designation and implementation of NBCs was developed in the Netherlands but has the potential to be applied throughout Europe.Eurosite, the organization that brings together European natural site managers, has adopted and promoted the concept across Europe. This article explains six different types of NBCs: ecosystems engineering, carbon sinks, living coasts, green air conditioning, room for nature and water management, natural sponges. The paper will also explain how the NCB concept relates to theconcepts of Natural Water Retention Measures as promoted by the European Union and Nature-Based Solutions introduced by the IUCN