On Friday 23 May, Euromontana was at the ‘Protected Natural Areas, a Shared Challenge’ conference that was held in Bilbao. An event organised, among others, by the Basque Government and our member HAZI, in partnership with Euromontana. On the agenda:  the governance and management of protected natural areas, more specifically in the framework of NATURA2000 areas and extensive mountain pastures.

The conference provided an opportunity to discuss the planning, coordination and management of these sensitive areas, bringing together officials from the institutions of the Basque Country, the European Commission and other stakeholders including Euromontana, which was represented by our Vice-President Juanan GUTIÉRREZ.

During the conference, the point was made that Natura 2000 classification does not prevent human activities, instead demonstrating their compatibility with conservation. In this respect, the importance of traditional practices such as extensive livestock farming and grazing in maintaining and conserving areas of high ecological value was particularly emphasised.

The results of the OREKA-MENDIAN project, a winner of the 2024 Natura2000 Awards , provided an excellent illustration of this potential.  From 2016 to 2022, this LIFE project brought together livestock farmers, nature conservation experts, landowners, nature managers and local stakeholders around the same table, creating synergies and opportunities for sustained cross-border discussions and wider cooperation. The project developed a joint strategy for the sustainable management of mountain grasslands for the 15 Natura 2000 sites in Euskadi and the 8 sites in Iparralde, taking into account both their conservation and their socio-economic use.

Although the project concentrated on the poor conservation of Basque grasslands and their sustainable management, Juanan GUTIÉRREZ emphasised that the solutions and good practices developed and gathered during the project have a good potential for replication across Europe. European pastoralism faces common challenges across the continent, including a lack of appropriate policies, the lack of remuneration for ecosystem services provided, and growing climate change impacts.

Finally, our Vice-President took this  opportunity to invite local and institutional players to our next European Mountain Convention, to be held in June 2026 in Sallanches, in the French Alps, on the theme of pastoralism and extensive livestock farming!

The conference closed with speeches that placed the Basque Country’s work in the wider context of the European Green Deal and the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, highlighting the need to strengthen cooperation with local communities, the central government and European administrations to tackle the global biodiversity crisis.