Progress report for
Fostering biodiversity action in the outermost regions and overseas countries and territories of EU Member States (BEST)
Achievement at a glance
Under the BEST initiative, nearly 100 projects have been funded until now. BEST 2.0 programme (under the B4LIFE flagship) benefits the EUs Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) for a total of EUR 10 million. It piloted an innovative financing mechanism by setting up a funding facility to award small (< EUR 100,000) and medium (< EUR 400,000) grants to local stakeholders, both public and private, focusing in priority on small grass-root organizations. The current funding finished with the call of proposals of 2017.<br>
<br>In December 2018, the EU committed additional EUR 2 million (resulting in a total commitment of EUR 12 million) under the Global Public Goods and Challenges programme (GPGC) to cover the period up to 2020. The new call for proposals will be launched in 2019.
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<br>Eventually a LIFE Preparatory Project co-funded by France (EUR 3 million with EUR 1.2 million from France) will allow further calls for proposals for small grants for biodiversity action in the EU's OTCs.
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Beneficiaries
BEST 2.0 aims to enable, empower and strengthen local organisations based in the OCTs and that are committed to sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services: local authorities, local civil society organizations, and local socio-professional organizations are the main grants recipients. OCT populations who benefit from ecosystem services are the final beneficiaries.