Further material can be viewed on the BTAU Hungary National Website  (in construction)

The BTAU was created under contract with RSPB in the spring of 2007. It is located in the office of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME). The BTAU has one employee with support from other MME staff (biodiversity  experts, administration, management). Experts are contracted as needs dictate, for example, financial  experts. The Unit is in touch with the Ministry of Environment and  Water, Hungarian Investment and Trade Development Agency, Hungarian  Office of EBRD, Hungarian Development Bank.

The Hungarian Office of EBRD is aware of the project, however they can not participate actively in the work due to a lack of capacity. The Hungarian Development Bank as a key stakeholder of SME development in  Hungary and participant of a previous, similar project (Regional  Biodiversity Financing Initiative) is aware of the project and they are  interested in the future credit line and the new market. Commercial banks have just started their "green" policy making.  The result of this process is not clearly biodiversity driven and they are  interested mostly in energy efficiency. The BTAU has a role in highlighting the need to incorporate biodiversity into their work.The financial expert has established good connections with commercial banks through the "Banking and Demand Study. They are generally interested in the project and the perspective of new market possibilities.

The new Hungary Development Plan will have a beneficial effect on SME development. In Hungary there are approximately 1.2 million SMEs. In the agricultural sector  (including forestry, hunting and fishing) and tourism sector, there are approximately 55,000 SMEs in Hungary. As Natura 2000 covers a significant area of  the country (21%) the number of SMEs connected to Natura 2000 is quite  high. According to an estimate carried out by the BTAU in early 2008, 44,000 SMEs could be potential  beneficiaries of a future "pro-biodiversity" loan just in the sectors of agriculture and tourism. The perspectives of SMEs conducting their business in Natura 2000 sites  is just getting better. There is a payment scheme that has recently come into effect in Natura 2000 grasslands and payment schemes of other habitat types that will assist SMEs to develop beneficial activities in such areas.

Most of the Natura 2000 sites still lack comprehensive management pans, especially those that are not nationally protected. Management plans have recently been prepared for some sites, and maintenance plans will be prepared for 200 additional sites in the next few years. A forthcoming ministerial decree will comprise the terms of reference for the maintenance plans. Compensation and other financing tools for Natura 2000 sites will be available mainly from EU-resources, via the national agro-environmental funds.  The conditions are and will be defined in different pieces of legislations. Two ministerial decrees, dealing with Natura 2000 grasslands, came into effect recently, regulating land use practices [269/2007. (X. 18.)], and financing [128/2007. (X. 31.)], respectively. Most of these financial resources will be available from 2009, though some are already available since the end of 2007 – so far, exclusively for grassland habitats.

 Communicating Natura 2000 for stakeholders has not been sufficient enough from the beginning, though several communication actions and projects passed off, organized both by the governmental side and NGOs. As a result, many of the stakeholders (especially land-owners and land-users) are still not completely aware of the limitations and possibilities that come from Natura 2000, many are disinterested and some are negative about it. The BTAU will seek to work with such audiences to continue to show the opportunities that exist.

More than 10% of the qualifying species and more than 40% of the habitats are of priority interest in the Pannonian Region, thus 405 Sites of Community Interest (SCIs) out of the 467 are priority sites.  Although officially there are no priorities among the Special Protected Areas (SPAs) at all, MME/BirdLife Hungary considers SPAs that are overlapping with Important Bird Areas (IBAs) as “priority sites”. Special research and conservation programs are being led, or contributed by MME on globally threatened species, such as Great Bustard, Red-footed Falcon, Saker, and Imperial Eagle. Most of these species are connected to agricultural landscapes, therefore to SMEs as well.

Main habitat types within the Hungarian Natura 2000 network are the following:

 In 2007, the BTAU predominantly concentrated on grasslands, as these habitat types are covered better by research, policy, subsidy. Also, grasslands are rather connected with SMEs, by the fact that enterprises, working in forest management are mostly state owned. In 2008, the BTAU has widened its portfolio to include fishponds and vinyards.

Dénes Nagy
BTAU Project Coordinator 
Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (OTOP) 
21. Költ?� utca (street) Budapest 1121
M: +36 20 389 1018
T: +36 (1) 275 6247
F: +36 (1) 275 6267
E-mail: nagy.denes@mme.hu