21 february 2020 / presentation at Halting the loss of pollinators conference
Venue:
Brussels, Belgium
Frank Stubbe ( Vlaamse Landmaatschappij (VLM)) presented the BEESPOKE project and participated in the panel discussion:
Conference: Halting the loss of pollinators: the role of the EU agricultural, regional development and cohesion policies
Venue: European Committee of the Regions - Brussels
Overall objective:
The need to maintain and restore habitats for pollinators in rural and urban areas has been long established in the EU policies, in particular, the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. The EU Pollinators Initiative looks to strengthen the integration of this need by promoting and facilitating the uptake of effective measures and projects under the EU agricultural and regional development policies. The BEESPOKE project has been invited to explain their approach to tackle bee decline.
Specific objectives:
1° Take stock of the contribution of the EU agricultural and regional development policies to the conservation of pollinators in the programming period 2014-2020;
Different projects were explained and discussed. The power of peer learning is at the core. Communication solutions is the most important, and find way to do that. Better identification of needs and better strategic planning.
2° Discussion on how to build on lessons learnt to ensure more effective measures and projects in the 2021-2027 period.
Is the full potential of all European funds delivering the full potential to tackle the pollinator decline. These discussion was at the core of day and how can we increase our impact with cohesion money to enhance biodiversity across Europe.
An important conclusion was that a better coordination is needed between the 2 big European funds: the cohesion fund and the CAP.
For the next program period more coherence in the policies, better complementarity and integration is necessary.