Nature and Biodiversity

The main goal of this opportunity is to support the protection, maintenance, and restoration of natural capital in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. The focus is on projects that help develop, implement, monitor, and enforce policies and actions related to nature and biodiversity. Projects should contribute directly to these objectives and not solely focus on governance or information activities. This grant is part of the LIFE Programme’s Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme. The geographic scope is not specified in the available information.

• Focus on area-based conservation or restoration (“Space for Nature”) to improve species or habitat conditions, including:

  • Restoring/enhancing natural or semi-natural habitats

  • Creating new protected areas or green infrastructure

  • Establishing ecological corridors or piloting new site-management approaches

  • Tackling pressures impacting habitats/species within or outside Natura 2000

• Target species-specific interventions (“Safeguarding our species”) beyond area-based measures, such as:

  • Infrastructure to reduce species mortality

  • Threat mitigation actions

  • Awareness-raising and behaviour-change initiatives for vulnerable species

• Demonstrate measurable contributions to implementation of EU nature legislation, including the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and Nature Restoration Law

• Apply innovative, scalable solutions that can be replicated elsewhere

• Engage public authorities, stakeholders, and civil society to build governance and implementation capacity

• Strengthen knowledge base and enforcement, e.g. via monitoring, data collection, Natura 2000 implementation

• Be led by legal entities (public or private) established in eligible LIFE countries, with eligible-country coordinator

Examples:

• A project restoring a threatened wetland to improve local biodiversity.
• An initiative to monitor and reduce pressures on a marine habitat.
• A program implementing conservation actions for endangered terrestrial species.

• Personnel costs
• Subcontracting
• Travel and subsistence
• Equipment (depreciation or rental)
• Consumables and materials
• Dissemination and communication
• Access to research infrastructure
• IPR and certification
• Audit costs
• Indirect costs (25% flat rate)
• Internally invoiced services

• Budget for this Call: 153,000,000€
• Number of Grants attributed: 1
• Maximum value per project: 13,000,000€
• Minimum value per project: 2,000,000€

• Eligible applicants: Public or private legal entities established in EU Member States (including overseas territories), EEA countries, or other countries associated with the LIFE Programme. The coordinator must be from an eligible country.

• Consortium structure: Single beneficiaries or consortia are accepted—no mandatory multi-country requirement—but cross-border cooperation is encouraged .

• Project focus (must align with nature & biodiversity legislation and EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy):

  • "Space for Nature": Area-based conservation or restoration—e.g. habitat restoration (inside and outside protected areas), green corridors, protected area management improvements, new site creation, pilot site measures.

  • "Safeguarding our species": Species-focused interventions—e.g. reducing mortality, invasive species control, awareness campaigns, direct protection measures outside habitat restoration