Deadline Date: September 22, 2026
The European Commission, through its LIFE Programme, supports ambitious conservation and restoration efforts aimed at protecting biodiversity and strengthening Europe’s natural ecosystems.
The LIFE Nature and Biodiversity Standard Action Projects aim to support ambitious conservation efforts across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems in line with European Union biodiversity and environmental legislation.
Expected Impact: Applicants are required to define, calculate, explain, and achieve ambitious and credible conservation impacts while ensuring long-term sustainability and replication of results. Objective: The initiative supports the European Union’s goals for protecting, maintaining, and restoring natural capital across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Scope: It focuses on Standard Action Projects under EU nature and biodiversity legislation and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, ensuring outcome-based implementation of conservation policies targeting wild species and natural or semi-natural habitats through two key intervention areas.
The “Space for Nature” area supports habitat restoration, protected area development, ecological corridors, green infrastructure, and actions reducing environmental pressures inside and outside protected zones. The “Safeguarding our species” area focuses on improving species conditions and reducing threats through infrastructure and awareness measures. Priority is given to projects targeting vulnerable species under EU Birds and Habitats Directives, especially those with declining conservation status, as well as endangered species listed under EU or IUCN Red Lists, including initiatives addressing human–wildlife conflict.
The estimated total call budget is EUR 173,500,000, of which EUR 166,000,000 is allocated to Nature and Biodiversity, supporting large-scale conservation and biodiversity restoration projects across Europe.
The programme supports projects that directly contribute to biodiversity conservation outcomes by implementing targeted actions for species and habitats in need of urgent intervention. It encourages innovative and effective conservation approaches that enhance ecological resilience and connectivity across landscapes. Projects are expected to demonstrate clear biodiversity benefits and contribute to strengthening Europe’s ecological networks.
Eligible applicants include public and private legal entities established in EU Member States, overseas countries and territories, listed EEA countries, and countries associated with the LIFE Programme. Coordinators must be based in eligible countries, and all participants must be registered and validated in the EU Participant Register before submission.
The indicative available call budget for this topic is EUR 166,000,000 under the LIFE-2026-SAP-NATNATURE Nature and Biodiversity strand, supporting large-scale implementation of conservation actions across Europe.
For more information, visit European Commission.
