From 28-30 September 2021, the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) Steering Committee, the ConnectGREEN project consortium, supported by the Centralparks consortium organised the International Conference on “Protected Areas – Cornerstones of Ecological Connectivity in the Carpathians and Beyond“ in Visegrád, Hungary, and virtually. The three-day event also hosted the 3rd Conference of the Carpathian Network of the Protected Areas organised by the Centralparks project and the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention.
ConnectGREEN final conference
The conference shed light on the recent environmental developments in the Carpathians and highlighted the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration for the identification, conservation and restoration of ecological connectivity in one of Europe’s largest mountain ranges and beyond. Key stakeholders working in and around protected areas, came together to share knowledge, exchange experience and discuss new tools to improve and safeguard ecological connectivity.
The Conference in Visegrad also witnessed the closing the project ConnectGREEN – Restoring and managing ecological corridors in mountains as the green infrastructure in the Danube basin (Interreg Danube Transnational Programme). Various successful project results and outputs were presented, as well as other projects and international cooperations that contribute to the restoration of natural habitat connectivity and biodiversity conservation, such as the Centralparks project.
The closing act of the Conference was the adoption of a joint Conference Declaration: the participants agreed to call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national governments of the Danube-Carpathian region to drive the efficient management of ecological corridors to avoid further deterioration, restore their functionality and reverse habitat fragmentation.
A new age for the CNPA network
The event hosted 3rd Conference of the Carpathian Network of the Protected Areas, which offered a platform to present best practices of protected areas management and facilitate a dialogue on further strengthening cooperation between and within the protected areas in the Carpathians and other regions. Conference attendees heard about the valuable outputs of Centralparks, received inputs from the Steering Committee Members of the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA) and learnt about best practices in protected areas management from protected areas representatives. This was followed by an interactive exercise, facilitated by the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, to identify relevant future focuses for the Carpathian Protected Areas Network.
More information about the speakers and agenda, as well as a detailed report from the 3rd CNPA Conference can be found here: