Two years later, the partners of the twinning programme decided to form an association under French law, which led to the formal birth of Eurosite. Led by Christophe Lefebvre from the Conservatoire du Littoral, Nicole Nowicki-Caupin, and Peter Nowicki, a European network of site management organisations was born. The association’s first General Assembly in Faro, Portugal elected Albert Klinkenbergh from the Netherlands as President.
From the beginning, Eurosite has offered a convivial space where site managers and nature conservationists can meet like-minded people, share questions and their answers, and support each other, knowing that they are not alone and that they can rely on their community.
1987 – Start of the European Natural Sites Twinning Programme
1988 – Conference on Twinning as part of European Year of Environment
1989 – Establishment of Eurosite as an association under French law (Rochefort-sur-Mer, France)
1994 – Relocation of Eurosite office to Tilburg in the Netherlands
1999 – Publication of the Eurosite Management Planning Toolkit
2004 – Eurosite becomes an employer with its own payroll
2007 – Establishment of Eurosite as association under Dutch law and relocation of legal seat to Tilburg
2008 – Dissolution of the Eurosite association under French law
2014 – Eurosite members agree on the new individual membership category
2014 – Eurosite members agree to develop ‘Friends of Eurosite’ agreements
2019 – Eurosite members agree to change the association’s name to Eurosite — the European Land Conservation Network
