Project Profile: Mapping of the European Green Belt
Mapping of the European Green Belt
Creation of shared data resources to help manage activities in the Green Belt
Background:
Map of the European Green Belt
The European Green Belt is a ribbon of habitats of high conservation value and in some cases large spatial extent along the former Iron Curtain border. Seclusion and absence of human activity allowed the habitats to develop undisturbed for many years. Today, this virtually unbroken ribbon forms a major part of a pan-European ecological network. The European Green Belt stretches from the Barents Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and borders or crosses the territory of 23 countries.
Conserving and fostering the development of the Green Belt requires close cross-border cooperation and coordination of activities. The full conservation value and potential of areas (and gaps) in the Green Belt will only be realised – and activities and management plans effectively coordinated – in a cross-border, large-scale context.
Many of the data resources needed for this purpose are already available nationally or regionally, but not on a transnational basis and without a unifying structure.
The project:
The aim of the project is to create a joint GIS-based map resource and database containing all available information on habitats, land use and protected areas. These data resources are intended to serve as a science-based decision aid in carrying out future projects and activities to conserve and foster the Green Belt’s development. They can be used as a medium for providing decision-makers and the public with information and to support project work on the ground.
Identifying and obtaining the data to be included:
The project covers a study area 25 km either side of the border (50 km in Fennoscandia). The following data resources are to be obtained from European and national sources (given the necessary cooperation and assistance):
- Corine Landcover or equivalent where Corine data not available
- Natura 2000 (SCIs, SACs and SPAs) and Emerald Network sites
- National protected areas
- Information on other areas of high conservation value and on ongoing and planned nature conservation projects
Data structure standardisation:
As the source data are in many different formats, they need to be converted to a standard format before they can be combined in a database. GIS data are fed into a uniform geodetic reference system and alphanumeric data into a common database. The reference system and database are based on existing or recommended European standard formats (INSPIRE and NATURA 2000).
Data analysis:
The data and areas are assessed to determine their importance as part of a large-scale ecological network. Criteria have been developed to identify core areas, ‘stepping stones’, corridors and satellite sites in buffer zones around the core areas. These criteria are applied to the GIS data. The database provides information on habitats and species in the areas concerned.
A further analysis of the sites focusing on surrounding habitats and land use makes it possible to determine parts of the Green Belt that are in good condition, have strong development potential or contain gaps requiring improvement. This has been tested in two model regions. General 
Guidelines were derived for the further use of the project's results and data.
Dissemination of results:
The results of the project are to be made available to project partners on a CD-ROM. 
Selected results have also been published on the European Green Belt website and in the form of posters on individual sections of the Green Belt.
Publications:
Schlumprecht, H. (2006): Mapping the European Green Belt. In Terry A., Ullrich K. and Riecken U. (Eds.) The Green Belt of Europe: From Vision to Reality. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK, pp. 157-169.
Schlumprecht, H., Kreutz, M. & Lang, A. (2009): Schutzwürdige Landschaften am Grünen Band eine europaweite Übersicht als Arbeitsgrundlage für grenzübergreifendes Management und Handeln. In: Natur und Landschaft (84) 9/10, pp. 409-413.
Project information:
Duration: 2005-2007
Funding: BfN (methodology and Central Europe) and Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (Fennoscandia and South-Eastern Europe)
Project carried out by: 
IUCN and Office for Ecological Studies (Bayreuth/Germany)
Project management at BfN:
Section II 2.1, Biotope Protection and Biotope Management
Contact: Dr. Karin Ullrich (
karin.ullrich@bfn.de)
