2018 The Use of Conservation Easements in the European Union REPORT TO NABU BUNDESVERBAND INGA RACINSKA, SIIM VAHTRUS, SIA “BIOTA” Authors: Inga Racinska, Siim Vahtrus (SIA BIOTA) Editorial oversight: Dr Tilmann Disselhoff Contributions by: Austria – Volker Mauerhofer Belgium (Flanders) – Tom Andries Bulgaria – Stoyan Yotov Croatia – Enes Cerimagic Czech Republic – Vojtech Maca Denmark – Bent Jepsen Estonia – Siim Vahtrus Finland – Sari Sivonen, Ari Neuvonen, Pirkko Posio, Saana-Kaisa Ylitalo and Jouni Rauhala, ELCN France – Maud Latruberce, Julie Babin, Véronique Rioufol Germany – Dr Tilmann Disselhoff, NABU Bundesverband - ELCN Greece – Elias Demian Hungary – Csaba Kiss Ireland – Jonathan Moore Italy – Iva Rossi Latvia – Inga Racinska and Girts Baranovskis Lithuania – Gintaras Riauba and Zymantas Morkvenas Netherlands – Patrick Nuvelstijn Poland – Marta Kaczynska Portugal – Ana Marta Paz Romania – Catalina Radulescu Slovakia – Ivana Figuli Slovenia – Damijan Denac and Tomaz Petrovic Spain – Ana Barreira, Hernan Collado Urieta, Jofre Rodrigo and Miquel Rafa Fornieles Sweden – Johanna Ehlin and Helena Ringblom, ELCN United Kingdom – John Houston Thanks to the ELCN project team for translating the English summary. Citation recommended: Račinska, I., Vahtrus, S. (2018). The Use of Conservation Easements in the European Union. Report to NABU Bundesverband. This report is an initiative of the European Private Land Conservation Network (ELCN). 1 The Use of Conservation Easements in the European Union Table of Contents English summary ................................................................................................................................ 5 Catalan summary – Resum ................................................................................................................. 6 Croatian summary – Sažetak .............................................................................................................. 8 Dutch summary – Samenvatting ........................................................................................................ 9 Estonian summary – Kokkuvõtte ...................................................................................................... 11 French summary – Résumé .............................................................................................................. 12 German summary – Zusammenfassung ........................................................................................... 14 Latvian summary – Kopsavilkums .................................................................................................... 16 Italian summary – Sommario ........................................................................................................... 18 Portuguese summary – Resumo ....................................................................................................... 20 Spanish summary – Resumen ........................................................................................................... 22 Swedish summary – Sammanfattning .............................................................................................. 24 Chapter 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 25 Conservation easements ............................................................................................................... 25 Background ................................................................................................................................... 25 Legal basis for conservation easements......................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2. The scope and methodology of the study ....................................................................... 28 2.1. The scope of the study ........................................................................................................... 28 Thematic scope ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Geographic scope ................................................................................................................................... 28 2.2. Methodology.......................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 3. Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 30 3.1. Can easements be used to dedicate property or part of it to the nature conservation purposes, in principle? .................................................................................................................................. 30 Servitudes .............................................................................................................................................. 30 Other contractual agreements ................................................................................................................ 31 France, real environmental obligations ................................................................................................... 32 Belgium (Flanders), implementation of the management plan ................................................................ 32 Ireland, Section 18 agreements............................................................................................................... 32 Netherlands, the qualitative obligation ................................................................................................... 33 3.2. In which form may the easement be described in the title? .................................................... 33 3.3. If conservation easements may be entered in the land title, can they can be entered on the basis of a voluntary agreement, and between the land owner and a third party “in gross”? .......... 33 Table 1. Overview of the national responses ................................................................................. 34 Chapter 4. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 35 2 The Use of Conservation Easements in the European Union Chapter 5. Case Studies .................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 5.1. Case study: Austria ............................................................................................................. 38 Chapter 5.2. Case study: Belgium (Flanders)............................................................................................ 41 Chapter 5.3. Case study: Bulgaria ............................................................................................................ 44 Chapter 5.4. Case study: Croatia ............................................................................................................. 46 Chapter 5.5. Case study: Czech Republic ................................................................................................. 49 Chapter 5.6. Case study: Denmark .......................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 5.7. Case study: Estonia ............................................................................................................. 53 Chapter 5.8. Case study: Finland ............................................................................................................. 55 Chapter 5.9. Case study: France .............................................................................................................. 58 Chapter 5.10. Case study: Germany ........................................................................................................ 60 Chapter 5.11. Case study: Greece ........................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 5.12. Case study: Hungary ......................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 5.13. Case study: Ireland............................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 5.14. Case study: Italy ................................................................................................................ 73 Chapter 5.15. Case study: Latvia ............................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 5.16. Case study: Lithuania ........................................................................................................ 77 Chapter 5.17. Case study: the Netherlands ............................................................................................. 79 Chapter 5.18. Case study: Poland ............................................................................................................ 82 Chapter 5.19. Case study: Portugal ......................................................................................................... 85 Chapter 5.20. Case study: Romania ......................................................................................................... 87 Chapter 5.21. Case study: Slovakia .......................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 5.22. Case study: Slovenia ........................................................................................................