The governance of transboundary biodiversity is a complex issue that is largely understudied in Europe. TRANSNATURE aims to fill this gap by addressing three research questions:

1. To what extent and how do transboundary conservation areas involve different types of managing authorities and stakeholders in effective governance mechanisms to enhance conservation?

2. To what extent and how does the stratification of different governance mechanisms in the same natural areas, such as World Heritage sites, European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs), national management authorities, subnational authorities and indigenous and community conserved areas, trigger processes that strengthen biodiversity conservation? Are there cooperation mechanisms or mechanisms of conflict resolution in place among the different actors involved?

3. To what extent can transboundary conservation areas contribute to stop ecological degradation by improving the prevention of both cross-border pollution and transnational wildlife crime in the EU?

To respond to these questions, the project will analyze in detail and compare the following case studies: (1) ZASNET EGTC and transboundary biosphere reserve Meseta Ibérica (Spain/Portugal); (2) Parco Naturale delle Prealpi Giulie and Triglavski Narodni Park (Italy/Slovenia) (3) Westerschelde (Netherlands/Belgium); (4) Baltic to Barents (Finland/Sweden/Norway). These cases share a number of fundamental features (European cases of transboundary conservation areas featuring multi-level and multi-actor governance) but at the same time ensure enough variation (different European regions, different ecosystems, different kinds of authorities involved). Desk research on relevant legal and policy documents adopted at different governance levels (international, European, national, and sub-national) will be combined with semi-structured interviews of and focus groups with key stakeholders (empirical research method), as well as with a small component of ethnographic research. 

TRANSNATURE will contribute to policymaking at the international, European, national and conservation area levels, since it has repercussions on the CBD post-2020 global biodiversity framework, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Fit for 55 Package under the European Green Deal as well as national biodiversity strategies and the management regulations of the study areas included in the project. Policy impact is ensured through a specific stakeholder engagement plan. The specific transnational added value of the project is that it compares cases that would be otherwise studied in isolation.

TRANSNATURE aims to identify innovative governance models for biodiversity protection and stakeholder engagement, distill common governance principles and highlight best practices in study areas that are more advanced concerning aspects of transnational, vertical and horizontal cooperation.

This research was funded by Biodiversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership under the 2021-2022 BiodivProtect joint call for research proposals, cofunded by the European Commission (GA N°101052342) and with the funding organizations, the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen - South Tyrol, the Academy of Finland, the Agenda Estatal de Investigación, and the Research Foundation Flanders.