INSPIRE – Invasive Species: Information, Restoration and Engagement

Increasing biodiversity

INSPIRE

Increasing biodiversity

INSPIRE – Invasive Species: Information, Restoration and Engagement

Invasive alien species are acknowledged as a worldwide threat to biodiversity and the problems are estimated to increase due to climate changes, international trading and traveling habits.

The Interreg Aurora funded project INSPIRE will focus on three main objectives that will create better prerequisites for the eradication efforts in both Finland and Sweden.

  1. Get the gardening sector involved in the fight against invasive species. Many invasive species have started out as garden plants and to many gardeners are not yet aware of the problem of invasive species. By educating both garden markets and associations we can activate a crucial part of the population and reduce the risks of invasive species being let out into our nature. One of our planned pilot actions will be to launch a digital service for finding alternatives to popular invasive garden plants.
  2. The second objective is to create restoration strategies for authorities and municipalities. By having effective restoration strategies for areas suffering from invasive species we will make the tasks, brought by the EU: s restoration legislation, cheaper and more effective.
  3. The third objective is to increase the engagement among the public. Therefore, another of our planned pilot actions will be to launch a meeting platform to gather different landowners (private landowners and municipalities) and labor (private people and groups, associations, municipalities, and entrepreneurs).

The invasive species do not care about national borders, therefor a coordinated effort is required. The projects long-term goal is to stop the spreading of invasive species and increase the eradication efforts withing the Interreg Aurora programme area.

Contact: Johanna Nymark, ELY Elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskusten sekä työ- ja elinkeinotoimistojen kehittämis- ja hallintokeskus – johanna.nymark@ely-keskus.fi

Lead Partner EU
Etelä-Pohjanmaan Elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus (ELY)

Project partners
Länsstyrelsen i Västerbotten
Umeå kommun
Vaasan kaupunki

TYPE OF PROJECT
Regular project

SUB-AREA
Aurora

PRIORITY
Green and sustainable transition

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE
Nature protection and biodiversity

PROJECT DURATION
2023-10-01 – 2026-09-30

TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET
998 410 Euro

EU-FUNDING, INTERREG AURORA
648 474 Euro

STATUS
Ongoing

 

Social, ecological, and economic sustainable development is an overarching goal in the Interreg Aurora Programme.

The INSPIRE project contributes primarly to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Project News

Steering Committee meetings in Vaasa
News

New Interreg Aurora projects approved

The two Steering Committees, for sub-area Aurora and sub-area Sápmi, have met 14-15 June in Vaasa to decide on new cross-border cooperation projects in the