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    • One year since the signing of the “Biodiversity” Support Measure Agreement

    The Support Measure Agreement “Promoting Sustainable Tourism and Strengthening Biodiversity in Protected Areas” (“Biodiversity”) was ceremonially signed on 6 December 2024 at the Zbojská chalet. The allocation for this Support Measure from the second Swiss Contribution amounts to CHF 22.8 million. In financial terms, it is the largest Support Measure within the Swiss-Slovak Cooperation Programme (representing approximately 51.58% of the total allocation from the second Swiss Contribution).

    On this day, the implementation of the “Biodiversity” Programme was officially launched, to be carried out through individual projects. Over the year, several key milestones have been achieved which created the conditions for projects implementation.

    • On 13 February 2025, MIRDI SR, as the Programme Operator of “Biodiversity”, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, organised the opening conference of the “Biodiversity” Programme and, at the same time, the opening conference of the predefined project “Tourists and Nature Come Together” at the Gothal Hotel in Liptovská Osada.
    • The Project Promoter of the predefined project is the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, which is implementing it in partnership with nine national park administrations and the Swiss partner ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Natural Resource Sciences). This project is the cornerstone of the “Biodiversity” Programme and focuses on system-level solutions and improving the management of nine Slovak national parks, including modernising infrastructure, strengthening the governance of protected areas and promoting sustainable tourism.
    • On the same day, the open call BIO02 “Strengthening biodiversity in protected areas” was launched, with a total allocation of EUR 3.15 million. The call was aimed at public sector entities, universities, schools and non-governmental organisations active in the field of environmental protection, with the objective of supporting projects focused on the protection of ecosystems, habitats and species, the management of protected areas and measures responding to climate change.
    • By the BIO02 call deadline of 2 June 2025, 24 project applications had been submitted, with a total requested grant amount of EUR 10,505,229.45, which is more than three times the available allocation of the call.
    • On 2 October 2025, the Programme Operator issued decisions to support six projects with a total project grant amount of EUR 2,893,892.85. In the meantime, all project contracts have been concluded.
    • On 19 November 2025, the opening conference of projects supported under the open call BIO02 was held in Jasná. The six Project Promoters presented their projects, planned activities and the objectives they aim to achieve. Each of these projects is unique, focused on specific local needs and includes activities such as environmental education, restoration of forest stands, strengthening the resilience of the area and the restoration of wetlands and water features. Swiss partners are also involved in five of the projects – WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research), HAFL (Bern University of Applied Sciences, School of Agriculture, Forest and Food Sciences) and WWF Switzerland. The supported projects will synergistically and complementarily supplement the activities implemented under the predefined project “Tourists and Nature Come Together”.

    One year since the signing of the “Biodiversity” Support Measure Agreement has brought the completion of the preparatory phase. Based on the concluded project contracts, this has smoothly transitioned into the project implementation phase.