The INCDT, thanks to the interregional cooperation and good practices exchange carried out during the implementation of IMPACT Interreg Europe, has been able to set new lines of work in environmental education and improve the biodiversity conservation status of the Romanian Protected Areas in Romania involved in this project Action Plan. As a result, a new project proposal was approved and new educational material and an educational programme for pupils were implemented in March- April 2019 in Vanatori Neamt Natural Park (VNNP).
This process, which had a relevant impact in the regional and national policies in Romania, started with the organization of stakeholder meetings in which several lessons learnt from other IMPACT partners were identified and discussed with local stakeholders as suitable to be replicated in Romanian territory.
Likewise, different Romanian stakeholders were invited to attend to the interregional meetings celebrated during IMPACT project implementation in order to get relevant information on what the implementation of some of the good practices identified will require and, therefore, facilitate the identification of those that would bring more positive benefits to their local economy once implemented in Romania. Afterwards, the INCDT carried out monitoring activities with the aim of assuring the good implementation of the Action Plan and meetings with most of the active stakeholders were organised to ensure that all planned actions will be implemented in due time.
Within the actions taken, the VNNP developed the educational manual " Through Neamt forests" and organized dissemination activities and demonstrative lessons among the schools from Neamt county, which set the basis to create a new project aiming at training pupils in kindergarden regarding the improvement of the biodiversity conservation status of the protected areas in Romania. The project "Other ecological education” was approved and financed by Partnership Foundations Funds (SVA-05-2019 - Bison land Association - www.repf.ro/uploaded/files/file_ec767a142e13.pdf ).
To end with, during the spring 2020, VNNP and the Romania National Authority of Forests published the manual " Through Romania's Forests", will be printed and disseminated after the COVID situation allows to do so.
Additional actions arising from IMPACT project that have yield positive impacts in Romanian territory are the application for the EU Natura 2000 Award and the production at Vanatori Neamt Natural Park of a video to promote the Bison Land as an ecotourism destination. Likewise, the Dinosaurs Geopark developed thematic trails for tourists with special needs, produced educational materials for children aiming to raise awareness among high school students on nature conservation and adopted new methods to manage the tourist flows inside the Park.
