Call 01 - two stage (2026)

This destination will mostly support the EU Commission priority ‘Sustaining our quality of life: food security, water and nature’.

The implementation of the EU Green Deal^[1] will continue to guide R&I in this destination. R&I will develop knowledge and tools to support the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030^[2] and notably the EU Nature Restoration Regulation^[3], including with the development of nature credits as proposed in the Nature Credits Roadmap^[4]. This destination will also address the EU proposal for a Directive on soil monitoring and resilience^[5], the EU proposal for a Regulation on a forest monitoring framework^[6] and will inform deliberations on EU biodiversity policy after 2030, thus protecting our natural world. Nature-based Solutions are deep-rooted in this destination, which will support the EU climate adaptation strategy^[7] and the EU climate mitigation targets by maintaining or improving natural carbon sinks, since natural ecosystems store large amounts of carbon globally and ecosystems’ carbon sequestration potential is tightly linked to their biological diversity. R&I should particularly assess the ecosystems ongoing ability to sequester carbon and, if necessary, focus more on ecosystems that reliably do so while also providing benefits to biodiversity.

Actions will contribute to the European Ocean Pact^[8], to the European Water Resilience Strategy^[9] and to the EU legislative proposal on pollutants in EU waters^[10] (update of chemical substances listed for control).

R&I activities for sustainable farming, fishing and aquaculture will be supported in alignment with the Vision for Agriculture and Food^[11], the Vision for Fisheries and Aquaculture towards 2040^[12], as well as with the environmental objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy^[13] and the EU Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production^[14]. These efforts will enhance biodiversity and climate-resilient farming practices, ensuring the long-term competitiveness of these sectors within ecological boundaries, and foster innovation to drive sustainable food production.

R&I actions under this destination will encourage international cooperation in line with the global approach on R&I, contributing to EU international biodiversity commitments, notably those taken under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)^[15], which defines targets for the medium term (2030) and goals for the long term (2050). This destination will also support the Paris Agreement^[16], the Sustainable Development Goals^[17] and the United Nations agreement on biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement)^[18]. Support to processes of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)^[19] will be continued.

Complementarities and synergies will be ensured with the activities supported by the co-funded partnerships Biodiversa+^[20], Water4All^[21] and the co-funded partnership on Agroecology^[22], and LIFE^[23] projects, particularly on nature restoration and protection.

The destination supports unlocking the unique assets for research and innovation of the EU outermost regions, in line with the EU strategy for outermost regions^[24].

Expected impact: Proposals for topics under this destination should set out a credible pathway contributing to “putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services”, and more specifically to one or more of the following expected impacts:

• Knowledge on biodiversity status and trends and drivers of biodiversity loss is improved;
• Innovations, methods, pathways, models and tools are available and used to protect healthy and resilient ecosystems and to restore degraded ones, ensuring the continuous provision of ecosystem services, including for adaptation and/or mitigation to climate change;
• The ongoing biodiversity crisis and its consequences, notably on ecosystem functioning and their services, and the need to monitor, protect, restore and sustainably use biodiversity are better understood to better benefit the whole society in an inclusive way;
• Policymakers and stakeholders, all relevant economic sectors and society are aware and well informed of relevant challenges and opportunities of biodiversity protection, restoration and sustainable use, leading to better implementation of the biodiversity legislation and better valuation of ecosystem services, leading to transformative change towards a nature positive economy;
• Farmers, foresters, land and sea managers, fishers and aquaculture producers have access to key information, and test and implement biodiversity-friendly management practices, while safeguarding food and water security and fostering competitiveness, demonstrating the long-term sustainability of these sectors;
• Progress towards international commitments worldwide on biodiversity is made.

[1] The European Green Deal - European Commission

[2] Biodiversity strategy for 2030 - European Commission

[3] Regulation - EU - 2024/1991 - EN - EUR-Lex

[4] EUR-Lex - 52025DC0374 - EN - EUR-Lex

[5] EUR-Lex - 52023PC0416 - EN - EUR-Lex

[6] Proposal for a Regulation on a Forest Monitoring Framework - European Commission

[7] EU Adaptation Strategy - European Commission

[8] The European Ocean Pact - European Commission

[9] Water resilience strategy - European Commission

[10] EUR-Lex - 52022PC0540 - EN - EUR-Lex

[11] Vision for Agriculture and Food - European Commission

[12] EUR-Lex - 52025DC0075 - EN - EUR-Lex

[13] Key policy objectives of the CAP 2023-27 - European Commission

[14] Organic action plan - European Commission

[15] Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

[16] The Paris Agreement | UNFCCC

[17] THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development

[18] BBNJ Agreement | Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction

[19] IPBES Home page | IPBES secretariat

[20] Biodiversa +

[21] Water Security for the Planet

[22] Agroecology Partnership

[23] LIFE - European Commission

[24] COM(2022) Putting people first, securing sustainable and inclusive growth, unlocking the potential of the EU’s outermost regions

Expected Outcome:

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• drivers behind the rapid decline of specific species are better understood;
• policymakers, land, water and sea managers, national agencies and other stakeholders are provided with fast, practical and effective measures to prevent further decline and promote the recovery of affected species populations, thus contributing to the EU objectives of nature protection and climate mitigation and adaptation.

Scope:

As a result of unsustainable human activities, the global population of wild species is estimated to have fallen by more than 70% over the last 50 years^[1]. This is notably documented for bird populations, with long-term trends demonstrating that Europe has experienced a major decline in biodiversity^[2]. Some species that were considered common in the past have recently been assessed as threatened or endangered.

Proposals should support the implementation of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, and particularly target 4: “by 2030, significant areas of degraded and carbon-rich ecosystems are restored. Habitats and species show no deterioration in conservation trends and status; and at least 30% reach favourable conservation status or at least show a positive trend”, the EU legislation on biodiversity protection and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), especially target 4: “Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts”.

Successful proposals should:

• assess and improve the understanding of the drivers of decline of common or widespread species (present in the EU or Horizon Europe Associated Countries) which current decline is not easily explained, to be identified and selected by the proposals. This topic is open to species from all types of ecosystems including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial;
• develop and test innovative approaches and actionable solutions to address the decline;
• develop plans to support future uptake and upscaling after the research project and assess how tools, methods and solutions can be adapted and applied across different regions and contexts;
• consider the need for long-term ecological monitoring of the selected species populations and associated habitats, e.g. provide recommendations and consider possible options for long-term monitoring;
• if relevant, provide policy recommendations.

Proposals should foresee appropriate resources to ensure close cooperation with the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) and its Science Service. Cooperation with the European partnership Biodiversa+ should also be ensured.

International cooperation is encouraged, when relevant, especially in the cases of migratory species or species with transboundary populations.

[1] WWF (2024) Living Planet Report 2024 – A System in Peril. WWF, Gland, Switzerland

[2] European Environment Agency 2023