Nature Governance and Information

The LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV grant is part of the Nature and Biodiversity call under the EU LIFE Programme, designed to enhance nature governance and biodiversity conservation. The eligible applicant types include public bodies, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, and utilities, allowing for participation from various small and medium-sized stakeholders across the EU, EEA, and candidate countries. The funding type is a grant with an overall budget of €3.5 million designated for the governance topic, with individual project funding potentially ranging from €0.7 million to €2 million based on precedents from similar grants.

The focus of this grant is on projects that improve compliance with EU biodiversity policies, raise public awareness, and facilitate access to justice concerning biodiversity matters. The application process is an open call with a single-stage submission, which must be submitted by September 23, 2025. The grant typically requires co-funding, where applicants must cover at least 40% of the project's costs, reflecting a maximum funding rate of 60%.

Projects must demonstrate innovative techniques that can be developed, validated, or demonstrated to produce significant impacts on nature conservation. While the success rates are not specified, similar EU funding initiatives often experience competitive selection processes.

Eligible projects should contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity, generally falling under operational stages rather than initial project conception. Calls encourage collaboration among stakeholders, though single applicants are also permitted. Detailed eligibility criteria, proposal requirements, and the evaluation process can be found in the official call document, which also outlines conditions for admissibility and necessary documentation.

Overall, this grant represents a crucial opportunity for entities engaging in nature conservation to secure funding to implement impactful projects that align with EU environmental objectives.

The EU Funding Opportunity is the Nature & Biodiversity call for Standard Action Projects (SAP) under the Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE). The call, identified as LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT, aims to contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity.

The call has two specific topics: LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV and LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-NATURE. The LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV topic, with a budget of 3,500,000 EUR, focuses on LIFE Project Grants (LIFE-PJG) to improve governance and information related to nature and biodiversity. The LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-NATURE topic, with a budget of 153,400,000 EUR, covers other projects aligned with the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme, excluding governance and information projects.

The objective of the call is to contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity by raising awareness of the benefits of nature conservation, supporting nature and biodiversity policy and legislation compliance assurance, and/or supporting access to justice in nature and biodiversity policy and legislation-related matters.

The call is a single-stage submission process. The opening date for submissions is April 24, 2025, and the deadline for submissions is September 23, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

Applicants are expected to define, calculate, explain, and achieve ambitious and credible impacts in terms of conservation benefit, ensuring long-term sustainability and replication.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, which are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible countries and other eligible conditions are described in section 6 of the call document. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are described in section 7 of the call document. The submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in section 9 of the call document. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in section 4 of the call document. The legal and financial set-up of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document and annexes include the call document itself, application form templates (standard application form available in the Submission System, detailed budget table, participant information, maps, description of sites, and description of species and habitats), Model Grant Agreements (LIFE MGA), and additional documents such as FAQs in the LIFE website, LIFE Regulation 2021/783, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, EU Grants AGA, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

Applicants can access the Electronic Submission Service via the submission button and are advised to consult the FAQs in the LIFE website and contact their National Contact Point (NCP) for support. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ and IT Helpdesk are available for technical questions.

There are 42 partner search announcements available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests on the Funding & Tenders Portal.

In summary, this EU funding opportunity under the LIFE Programme seeks Standard Action Projects to enhance nature and biodiversity conservation. It focuses on improving governance and information, raising awareness, supporting policy compliance, and ensuring access to justice in environmental matters. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline in September 2025. Applicants should consult all provided documents and seek support from the NCP and relevant helpdesks to prepare a strong proposal.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated in the provided text. However, given that it is a LIFE Programme call for proposals, eligible applicants typically include a wide range of entities such as public organizations, private commercial and non-commercial organizations, including NGOs, research institutions, universities, and other legal entities capable of carrying out the proposed activities. The specific eligibility criteria are detailed in section 6 of the call document.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a LIFE Project Grant (LIFE-PJG) and a LIFE Action Grant Budget-Based [LIFE-AG].

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the presence of a partner search announcement section suggests that consortia are possible and perhaps encouraged. The specific requirements will be detailed in the call document.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document. Without accessing the call document, it is assumed that eligibility is aligned with the LIFE Programme, which generally includes EU member states and potentially other countries associated with the program.

Target Sector: The target sector is nature and biodiversity, specifically focusing on improving governance and information related to nature conservation. The call aims to contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity by raising awareness, supporting policy and legislation compliance, and supporting access to justice in related matters.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned in the provided text. The geographic eligibility is described in section 6 of the call document.

Project Stage: The call targets Standard Action Projects (SAP), which suggests that the expected project stage is beyond the initial idea phase and more towards development, validation, or demonstration. These projects are aimed at achieving specific objectives of the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme.

Funding Amount: The budget overview indicates two topics: LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV with a budget of 3,500,000 EUR and LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-NATURE with a budget of 153,400,000 EUR for the year 2025. The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a LIFE Project Grant.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement. This information is likely detailed in the call document.

Summary:

This is a call for proposals under the LIFE Programme, specifically the Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme. The call focuses on Standard Action Projects (SAP) aimed at improving governance and information related to nature conservation and biodiversity protection. The call has two main topics: LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV, which focuses on governance and information projects, and LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-NATURE, which covers other projects aligned with the objectives of the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity sub-programme. The total budget for LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-GOV is 3,500,000 EUR, while the total budget for LIFE-2025-SAP-NAT-NATURE is 153,400,000 EUR. The call is a single-stage submission process, with the deadline for submissions on September 23, 2025. Applicants are expected to define and achieve ambitious and credible impacts in terms of conservation benefit, ensuring long-term sustainability and replication. The call encourages applicants to contribute to the protection of nature and biodiversity by raising awareness, supporting policy and legislation compliance, and supporting access to justice in related matters. Applicants should consult the call document and annexes for detailed information on eligibility criteria, proposal requirements, and the evaluation process. The submission session is now available for both topics.