3.4 Financial sustainability

Release date	14/05/2007

Assessment criteria:

• Amount of financial needs identified (2005).
• Sustainable financing plans established.
  
• Amount of funding provided by public and private donors to protected areas.
  

Description of progress, main obstacles, information sources:

Studies on ecosystem services and values are restricted to specific areas:  for the Schelde river area, Heverlee forest area, Marine areas.

Identification of financial needs for Natura 2000 has been published in the EC report on art 8 of the Habitats Directive – available from EU website.

• government budgets allocated for nature conservation (OECD report 2006)

Public expenditure on biodiversity and landscape protection in Belgium amounted to EUR 130‑150 million annually during 2000‑03, an increase from EUR 90‑110 million a year during 1996‑99. The share of investment expenditure steadily increased, from 11% in 1996 to 44% in 2003.

• international cooperation projects

=> Flemish Region supports projects in developing countries for forest protection and management through the Flemish forest fund, and re-introduction projects of Saharan-Sahel antilopes in protected areas in Tunesia and Algeria through the Bonn Convention Programme.