Natural Heritage Strategy of Catalonia 2030 approved

On 17 July, the Government of Catalonia approved the Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Strategy of Catalonia 2030 - a key step to protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency in Catalonia.

The Strategy is the framework document which will guide the Government of Catalonia's nature conservation work until 2030. The aim is to monitor the degradation of natural heritage and biodiversity loss in Catalonia, while guaranteeing its sustainable use and ensuring the provision of the ecosystem services on which Catalan society depend.

The approval of this new policy instrument is a crucial step to increase the number of actions which can be funded by Axis 6 of the ERDF Catalan Operational Programme - the policy instrument being tackled in Catalonia by the BID-REX project.

As the Strategy was developed, the Catalan BID-REX team pointed out the importance of reinforcing the link between biodiversity and decision-making processes, and the need to have a Catalan Natural Heritage Observatory as a hub of biodiversity knowledge. This idea is widely incorporated into Area 1 of the Strategy.

The Strategy's objectives and actions are linked to six areas which are defined by six guiding principles. The Catalan BID-REX action plan is of particular importance to Areas 1 and 7.

The Catalan Action Plan will have different objectives to improve the Axis 6 of Catalan ERDF Operational Programme and the link between biodiversity information and decision-making processes. The actions to create the Observatory will be based on different Good Practices identified during the project.

Although the Strategy has a local scale, it complies with international mandates to help halt biodiversity loss – such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

Further information about the Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Strategy of Catalonia 2030 can be found below: