INTERREG IV A
The project “Harmonization and optimization of the management of NATURA 2000 sites in the cross-border natural environment of the Lower Oder Valley” was developed in the course of the long-term collaboration between the German and Polish protected areas in the Lower Oder Valley.
The goal of the project is to harmonize the German and Polish nature conservation activities in the river floodplain landscape as well as to implement modern and integrated nature conservation and environmental education projects in the region.
It represents a new quality of cross-border collaboration: For the first time in a joint funding project on the German and Polish side of the Lower Oder Valley, the concrete implementation of projects in the fields of nature conservation, nature tourism, environmental education and regional development is taking place. This unique project is of particular importance for German-Polish cooperation in nature conservation. It aims at the development of model solutions for the region, which will serve international nature conservation. As a result, our region is gaining in national and international significance. Thus, the project also creates the framework conditions for sustainable economic development through the activation of nature tourism potentials.
The partners are the Lower Oder Valley National Park and the Regional Environmental Protection Directorate of Stettin.
The project area consists of the Lower Oder Valley National Park (nationwide NATURA 2000 area) on the German side and 3 NATURA 2000 sites on the Polish side. The latter are predominantly located in the Landscape Protection Parks of the Lower Oder Valley and Cedynia.
Project costs amounted to around 3.5 million EUR and were 85% financed from the European Fund for Regional Development. The project funds were invested between July 2011 and November 2014 in favour of the unique Lower Oder Valley on the German and Polish sides of the Oder.
The core contents of the project are presented on the following pages:
- Harmonizing the management of NATURA 2000 sites
- Education and tourism on NATURA 2000
- Public relations work on NATURA 2000
