Webinar Series: Qualifying for financial support in protecting and managing biodiversity through certification – the Dutch way

In the Netherlands organisations or individuals who apply for government subsidies or financial support for the protection of biodiversity will first need to go through a certification process. This certificate guarantees that the organisation (or individual) asking for financial support lives up to established requirements with respect to management planning, bookkeeping procedures, staff qualifications (technical and administrative) and transparency in management and communication. The core target of certification is to create confidence and transparency in management practices and ensure organisations have the required technical qualifications. As such certification contributes to improving Protected Areas Management Effectiveness (PAME).  This becomes even more important with the increasing interest in investing in nature certificates and/or CO2 certificates.

In this webinar we will learn what the requirements are to get a certificate that qualifies for receiving government support for nature protection in the Netherlands. And we will learn how the certification works out for more than 10 years now.

The Eurosite EMPEG Working Group and LIFE ENPLC invite Tjebbe de Boer as the speaker for this event.

Tjebbe de Boer is a board member of the Stichting Certificering SNL, which is the public foundation that awards certificates to nature management organisations, individual land owners and agricultural cooperatives in the Netherlands. These certificates are needed to apply for management subsidies. He is a retired project- and program manager at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Government Service for Land and Water Management. He has been working on policy making for rural areas, a broad variety of projects in the rural areas and the design and implementation of national schemes for nature management and agri-environment. Before becoming board member of the Stichting Certificering SNL he worked as freelance assessor and auditor for this foundation.

This webinar is hosted as part of the webinar series ‘Improving transparency, confidence and resilience in site management to support Protected Areas Management Effectiveness (PAME)‘.

The EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 outlines a commitment to effectively manage all protected areas (PAs) by the year 2030. A crucial aspect of achieving this goal involves the certification of landowners and managers responsible for protecting and managing biodiversity. This certification process not only enhances the transparency, confidence, and resilience of these organizations but also contributes to the overall effectiveness of Protected Areas Management. Utilising management software is instrumental in meeting certification requirements, and beyond that, it brings broader advantages to conservation organizations. The choice between emphasising resilience for site managers and transparency for donors and financing bodies/public institutions underscores the diverse priorities within the conservation landscape.