Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas - BEST 2.0
The BEST 2.0 Programme is a funding facility, supported by the European Commission as part of the EU Biodiversity for Life (B4Life) flagship. It aims to support the objectives of the BEST Initiative by facilitating the continuation of important environmental and conservation work providing grant funding for small-scale and medium-scale field actions on the ground for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the EU Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) – countries and territories with a special link to one of the following Member States: Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The OCTs are found in five regions around the world: • Pacific • Caribbean • South Atlantic • Indian Ocean • Polar and Sub-Polar
BEST 2.0 Map showing the 5 regions of overseas Countries and Territories eligible for grant aid
Background
The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) is in charge of coordinating the BEST 2.0 project for the South Atlantic Overseas Territories (OTs) and cover the following areas: Ascension Island (UK), St Helena (UK), Tristan da Cunha (UK) and the Falkland Islands (UK)
The majority of Europe’s biodiversity is found in its overseas entities – European Overseas Outer Regions (ORs) and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). The OCTs span the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic. They are set in unique environments, include recognized key biodiversity areas, and most are critical to ecosystem services of local, regional and global importance.
Biodiversity in the ORs and OCTs is very rich but also at risk, particularly from being vulnerable to invasive species, development and climate change. BEST 2.0 is essential to address the conservation and sustainable development needs in the European Overseas and aims to pilot an innovative financing mechanism for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the EU OCTs by setting up a funding facility for small-scale and medium-scale field actions on the ground.
Project Objectives
Promote the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystem services
Including ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation, as a basis for sustainable development in OCTs.
Enable, empower and strengthen local authorities and civil society organisations
Which are committed to local development, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services in OCTs.
BEST 2.0 is designed provide substantive and effective support for actions at local and regional level, regional cooperation being key in the regions where the OCTs are located. BEST 2.0 will also catalyse the efforts and will constitute a key contribution to the achievement of global objectives and goals in terms of biodiversity, sustainable development and climate change.
Actions
As a grant scheme, BEST 2.0 organises calls for proposals in order to fund actions on the ground, both at the local and regional level.
61 projects have been funded by the BEST 2.0 programme:
On the South Atlantic region, of a total of 8 Small Grant proposals for the 2015 & 2017 Small Grant call, 5 projects were selected. And, of a total of 4 Medium Grant proposals for the 2016 Medium Grant call, 1 project was selected.
BEST 2.0+ is a funding facility supported by the European Commission (DG DEVCO) as part of the EU Biodiversity for Life (B4Life) flagship.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
The European Union is the key funding body in the BEST programme.
B4Life responds to global threats to biodiversity and addresses the need to enable sustainable development as part of efforts to conserve ecosystems.
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
Google reCAPTCHA helps protect websites from spam and abuse by verifying user interactions through challenges.
Name
Description
Duration
_GRECAPTCHA
Google reCAPTCHA sets a necessary cookie (_GRECAPTCHA) when executed for the purpose of providing its risk analysis.
179 days
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Google Maps is a web mapping service providing satellite imagery, real-time navigation, and location-based information.
