“Europe is suffering a biodiversity and ecosystem services decline… Land, which is a limited, vulnerable and fragile resource, is being used in an unsustainable way becoming more restricted and less fertile… It is necessary and urgent to find a balance and compatibility between economic development and the environment which guarantees ecosystem services and contributes to reduce biodiversity loss and protect the natural and cultural heritage of our land…”

The above is just a short extract from the Barcelona Declaration, which was officially launched at the LandLife Congress in November 2014. Since then 80 organisations and 130 individuals have signed the Declaration, including Eurosite. This is an incredible achievement, but we want to make this a truly European-wide movement.

The Declaration has already been translated into English, Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan, Galician, Euskera, Czech, and most recently Greek. If you would like to help the LandLife project achieve its goal of translating the Declaration into all the European languages, please contact helpdesk@landstewardship.eu.

Following on from the LIFE+ LandLife project, the project partners aim to establish a European Land Stewardship Network. The Declaration will form the basis of the network, which will: become a reference point for land management and nature and biodiversity conservation in Europe; create a platform for dialogue and projects increasing the exchange of experience and good examples of land stewardship; promote and support the creation of a European inventory of land stewardship practices; and create a stewardship label to endorse products and services produced in areas under land stewardship agreements.

By signing the Declaration you would be sending a clear message of support for this vital initiative. So, sign the Declaration today and raise your voice for nature! You can sign the Declaration either as an individual or as an organisation.