Building management capacities of Carpathian protected areas for the integration and harmonization of biodiversity protection and local socio-economic development.

The Carpathians belong to the most important European eco-regions. Biodiversity loss and increasing pressures threaten its outstanding natural values. Traditional approaches to resource management and nature conservation are no longer sufficient to guarantee long-lasting economic benefits and provision of ecosystem services. Such problems cannot be solved by one country alone, and require transnational cooperation. CENTRALPARKS aims at improving management capacities of protected areas. Project will support nature protection and local sustainable development, improve integrated environmental management capacities and policies, enhance transnational cooperation, and mitigate current threats and pressures to biodiversity. Policy support documents and tools, tailored for decision-makers and protected area managers, focus on enhancing biodiversity and landscape conservation, local sustainable tourism development, integrated nature conservation planning, habitat evaluation, ESS, and communication with local communities. CENTRALPARKS promotes joint actions for integrated management of biodiversity, including joint transnational thematic task forces, involving experts from Carpathian countries. The project will reconcile nature conservation and local socio-economic development, raise support and involvement of local communities. It will develop and test innovative environmental management tools, such as the ESS Toolkit, and laser scan surveying method for habitat evaluation and management planning. CENTRALPARKS encourages transnational networking, aims at harmonizing approaches at the international level, and will facilitate the harmonization of measures undertaken in border areas and transboundary-protected areas. Strategies shall be endorsed by the Carpathian Convention, facilitating uptake to the policy level, and implementation in a long-term perspective.R 3.1 Status of integrated environmental management capacities of the public sector and related entities for the protection and sustainable use of natural heritage and resources achieved through transnational cooperation.The main result of CENTRALPARKS is to improve management capacities of Carpathian protected areas to contribute to the implementation of the Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians and harmonize biodiversity protection measures and socioeconomic strategies to facilitate transboundary cooperation. CENTRALPARKS is in line with targets of priority
3.1 and will bring a positive change within CE region and beyond in form of: establishing thematic task forces among PAs managers and public authoritie addressing the main substantive socio-economic issues; set up an effective and long-term management of the Carpathian PAs by strengthening its transnational framework; raising awareness and enhance livelihoods of local communities through biodiversity conservation and the added value of PAs; enhancing Carpathian PAs management models by developing innovative management tools in pilot areas with a solution based approach; understanding the main challenges for biodiversity protection, PAs management including N2000, ESS and sustainable use of natural resources in the pilot areas inside of the CNPA frame; mitigation of anthropogenic pressures (those resulting from unsustainable development and resource use practices) on the environment of the Carpathians; developping an outdoor environmental education training program based in local PAs, increasing local people and students’ attachment to PAs pro-environmental attitudes,ethics and self-reported behaviour