News

Nature needs laws that protect it. European laws such as the EU’s Birds and Habitats Directives are the ground for the protection of the unique nature and beautiful landscapes all along the European Green Belt. Let’s raise our voices for it.

A BESTbelt project in the Korab-Koritnik region helped to protect and restore biodiverse grasslands and empower local families – and write a story of courage, commitment, and community.

On 5 June 2026, World Environment Day, UNESCO added the Skadar Lake Watershed to its World Network of Biosphere Reserves - a major win for cross-border nature protection between Montenegro and Albania and the European Green Belt.

A BESTbelt project is turning long-term bird monitoring into practical recommendations for the Natura 2000 site Zalew Kamienski and River Dziwna.

About 120 people from 25 countries and 80 organisations met in Gorizia, at the Italian-Slovenian Green Belt, to take stock on the four and a half years of the BESTbelt project, which brought "more power to the European Green Belt". Many of the 49 small scale projects were present at the conference to present achieved results.

Since this year the Green Belt of Hesse has its own website. With the site www.gruenesbandhessen.de, the state of Hesse is supporting the initiative to develop the region along the former inner-German border as a recreational and travel destination for nature- and history-oriented tourism.

A map is worth a thousand words. Then what about an atlas? Let’s find out what we can learn from successfully implemented restoration actions supporting connectivity, biodiversity and ecosystem services improvement along the Central European Green Belt.

BALKANI Wildlife Society and Association of Parks in Bulgaria organized a training session on nature tourism and protected areas management in Belogradchik, Bulgaria as part of their BESTbelt project.

The EU-funded BESTbelt project is coming to an end in 2026. This new flyer briefly highlights what the project has achieved for the European Green Belt: 49 small grant projects funded by the project, support and capacity building for local NGOs, networking and exchange, stimulation of new ideas, testing of sustainable approaches to habitat restoration and species protection, youth education, and much more.

One wouldn't expect trucks and excavators in a national park, but sometimes even nature needs them.