The European Commission has launched a new Award designed to celebrate and promote best practices for nature conservation in Europe. The European Natura 2000 Award aims to demonstrate the importance of protecting biodiversity across Europe.

The Award, which will be an annual event, is open to any entity involved in the implementation of activities related to the management of Natura 2000. Local and other authorities and businesses, land owners, NGOs, educational institutions and individuals from all 28 EU Member States are all eligible to apply for one of the five categories of the award: Conservation, Socio-economic benefits, Communication, Reconciling interests/perceptions, as well as Networking and cross-border cooperation. The call for applications was launched on December 16, with a submission deadline on February 18, 2014. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Brussels in May 2014.

More information is available on the Award website.