Which legal tools do exist at European level to protect nature voluntarily on private land? The answer to this question is of importance to achieve the 30 by 30 target of the European Biodiversity Strategy and the objectives of the fore coming nature restoration law.
On the 2nd of June project partner the Xarxa per a la Conservació de la Natura held a workshop on private land conservation tools within the Tarragona International Law Colloquium.
Left to right: Joan Pons (Insta), Anabel Cepas (XCN) and Mathias Brummer (XCN)
The workshop started with a brief introduction on the conceptual analysis on private land conservation tools. Here we highlighted that in Europe six main private land conservation tools exists. Each of these tools are used in several European countries, although slight differences exist from one country to the other. One of the main objectives of the conceptual analysis was to make a first attempt to find a European wide common terminology.
As examples of the diverse tools, the land stewardship contracts of Spain and the lease contracts of Germany were showcased.
After this general introduction, we assessed the legal framework of land stewardship contracts in Spain, and how civil law can be used to promote private land conservation, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, we invited all participants of the workshop to debate in small groups a case study on land stewardship. The case study assessed a hypothetical village of Catalonia in which land owners, nature conservation NGOs and other relevant actors had to find an agreement to protect an endangered species. The case study brought closer to participants how private land conservation tools can be used for nature conservation in Spain.
Groups working on the case study under instructions of Anabel Cepas (XCN) and Mathias Brummer (XCN)
