TRANSNATURE Policy Recommendations: Scheldt Estuary

Transboundary cooperation in the field of biodiversity protection is a relatively understudied governance mechanism in Europe. The project “TRANSNATURE – TRANSboundary governance models of biodiversity protection: case studies for an enhanced protection of NATURal resources in Europe” aims to fill this gap by focusing on four case studies, including the Scheldt Estuary, covering Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands.
After fieldwork carried out between April and December 2024 (23 interviews and one focus group), policy recommendations have been formulated to suggest avenues to improve the current mechanisms of cross-border cooperation in the Scheldt estuary, and ultimately to strengthen biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the case study area.
The recommendations presented draw mainly from the inputs on challenges and visions collected during the fieldwork, complemented by evidence in literature and case law. The main categories of stakeholders involved are authorities (national, regional and local), research institutes, agricultural organizations, environmental organizations, citizens initiatives and port-related organizations. All recommendations developed in the four TRANSNATURE case studies are developed around the elements of “coordination”, “participation” and “funding”. For the Scheldt Case, the category of integration has been added, based on stakeholder feedback to this document. In the case of the Scheldt Estuary, the focus is on the alignment of biodiversity targets, the degree of citizen participation, the degree of integration of biodiversity protection and climate adaptation, as well as the availability funding for smaller citizen initiatives as well as more large-scale restoration efforts.