Ensuring continuous effectiveness of protected areas in conserving habitats and species while facing intensifying drivers of biodiversity loss
Call 01 - single stage (2026) · HORIZON-RIA · Needs partners
What this call funds
This call funds research projects that study how climate change and other pressures are affecting protected natural areas, and develop tools and best practices to help managers keep these areas effective at protecting species and habitats. Two projects will be funded, one focused on land-based (and freshwater) ecosystems and one on marine (and freshwater) ecosystems. The goal is better science and management practices to support the EU's 30% land and sea protection targets.
biodiversity · environmental monitoring · climate adaptation · water management · ocean marine · research excellence
Who wins this
A research consortium with ecological, conservation and social sciences expertise, working with protected area managers and civil society, focused on either terrestrial/freshwater or marine/freshwater biodiversity.
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The call in detail
- Indicative grant size
- €6.5M
- Funding model
- Lump sum — paid per completed work package, no financial reporting of actual costs
- Submission
- Single-stage submission (full proposal at once)
- Type of action
- HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
- Partners
- Required. The call asks for a consortium — a group applying together, typically 3+ organisations from 3+ countries.
- Also required
- Proposals must clearly indicate whether they address research field A (terrestrial) or field B (marine), and funding will ensure at least one top-ranked proposal in each field is awarded; costs are funded as lump sums.
- Sectors
- AgriTech · Circular Economy
- Eligible countries (45)
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, IL, TR, UA, RS, MK, ME, AL, BA, XK, GE, AM, MD, TN, NZ
Read the full conditions from the official call ›
General conditions 1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes. Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. 2. Eligible Countries described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. 3. Other Eligible Conditions described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. 4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds To ensure a balanced portfolio, grants will be awarded to applications not only in order of ranking but at least also to one proposal within the research field A that is the highest ranked, and one proposal highest ranked within the research field B, provided that the applications attain all thresholds. Proposals shall clearly indicate the research field they are applying to. are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. 5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. 5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. 6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025) [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf ]]. described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes. Specific conditions described in the topic conditions
Who has won calls like this
Organisations that most often win this call family · 116 past winners