EC Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units supporting Small & Medium Enterprises to benefit biodiversity in Natura 2000 areas by creating a dedicated pro-biodiversity investment market Miroslava Dikova, BTAU Project coordinator, BSPB, Sofia on behalf of BTAU Project Business and Biodiversity – Perspectives of European NGOs COP-9 Bonn, Germany, Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Funders: EC DG Environment - Supporting Business for Biodiversity Implementers: Birdlife Partners: RSPB, MME, BSPB,OTOP, and ECNC Steering Committee: EC, EBRD and EIB

3 Pro Biodiversity Business and BTAU SMEs in the EU SMEs in EU, 23 million, 75 million jobs, 57% GNP Natura 2000 network, 25% of EU, 1,000,000km 2, €6.1b annual public management costs Private sector is a gap in the implementation & funding of Natura 2000 system SMEs can deliver a proportion of the required i nvestments to meet this gap PBBs- Pro Biodiversity Businesses Many SMEs use biodiversity as their primary resource, exist in Natura 2000 sites PBBs- make a profit whilst conserving biodiversity BTAU- Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units 3 BTAUs in Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary New tools to identify and prioritise PBBs in Natura 2000 sites Create new markets for financial institutions to invest directly in PBB via grants, loans, equity purchase, supply procurements, micro-financing deals

4 SMEs: new contributors to conservation Traditional sources of financing Natura 2000: – National Governments – EU funding mechanisms – Non Governmental Organizations Major funding shortfalls exist at many sites SMEs new commercial input to the costs of N2000 management whilst contributing to: – Developments to rural economy e.g. Job creation – innovation – competitiveness

Supporting Business for B iodiversity 5 Achievements of BTAU Research results SMEs are active in all key EU ecosystems Many SMEs use biodiversity as their primary resource and operate in N 2000 A series of business sectors have been identified that operate within Natura 2000 sites and use biodiversity as a resource Concept works and could be applied to other countries BTAU achievements Pipeline of PBB ready for investments Financial instruments identified BTAUs set on course to be commercial operations Scaling up of activities to cover complete ecosystems (e.g. grasslands) and sectors (e.g. fish-ponds) Handbook drafted for developing and implementing pro-biodiversity investments

Supporting Business for B iodiversity 6 Provide knowledge and expertise BTAUs use latent expertise and knowledge of NGOs in an applied way BTAUs utilise monitoring potential of NGOs Turn “development problem” in Natura 2000 sites into a “business opportunity”. BTAUs offer biodiversity expertise in a format accessible for business How can NGOs play a role?

Supporting Business for B iodiversity Importance of SME contribution to biodiversity BTAU only initiative working with SMEs in Europe Expansion of BTAU concept across EU e.g. Portugal 7 Contributions to initiative