Governmental Decree No. 593 validating National Program for the establishment of the National Ecological Network for the period of 2011-2018.

This cross-sectoral National Ecological Network is an integral part of the Pan-European Ecological Network and has been developed in accordance with the requirements of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (Sofia, 1995), which laid the foundation for cooperation between governments, international organizations, institutions, agencies and non-governmental organizations. The strategy aims to conserve ecosystems, habitats, flora and fauna, and landscape diversity of European importance through the development of the Pan-European Ecological Network over a period of 10 years. The evolution and trends of annual biodiversity loss, soil degradation, damage and significant changes in natural ecosystems, especially the consequences of these phenomena, require a change in approach to the prevention of natural disasters, namely the transition from defensive actions to forms of management, sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems. This requires a new approach to the problems through territorial planning and sustainable management of natural ecosystems, protection and conservation of flora and fauna, and therefore, the inclusion of solutions to these problems in the concept of sustainable development of the country by reducing and preventing environmental degradation.
The state protected natural areas that form the main core of the ecological network, and those that have been established in recent decades in order to preserve rare, endangered and vulnerable species, have an uneven distribution and are very fragmented across the country, with significant damage, especially with regard to the protection of all types of natural ecosystems (forest, water, marsh, steppe, agricultural, etc.). The main function of the network is to include all natural ecosystems that are physically and functionally integrated to establish ecological balance. In order to create an environmental network, the following problems have been identified, which need to be solved through the following measures set out in the National Program: 1) the existing legislation is common for the sphere of biodiversity and is not brought into compliance with the EU legislation; 2) low level of public awareness; 3) fragmentation and dispersion of natural resources protected by the state; 4) territorial planning does not take into account the distribution of natural ecosystems, rare, vulnerable and threatened with extinction of animals and plants and other requirements for environmental protection; 5) lack of regional biogeographic planning of the territory; 6) forest protection belts of agricultural areas, protective belts of water protection zones, rivers and reservoirs have been cut down or are in need of ecological restoration.
The objective of the National Program is to establish a regulatory framework for the coordination of cross-sectoral actions to prevent and reduce the consequences of economic activities affecting the environment, life and health of the population. The National Program is aimed at the integrated management of the national ecological network through the preservation of the natural genetic diversity of all types of living organisms included in ecosystems and natural complexes, as well as to ensure optimal living conditions and sustainable development of adjacent areas of the ecological network. Mapping of the elements of the national environmental network will be carried out in the following areas: 1) determination and mapping of territories intended for creation of the national ecological network, administrative and legal affiliation, regime of land ownership and ecological restoration zones; 2) development of facility certificate of the objects of the national ecological network (core zones, ecological corridors, buffer zones); 3) zoning of the national ecological network; and 4) development and publication of atlas of the national ecological network and biogeographical map.
The implementation of the National Program involves two phases: 1) In the first stage (until 2014), an adequate legal framework will be approved, scientific research will be carried out and elements of a national environmental network will be defined; 2) in the second stage (2014-2018), the areas of natural protected areas will be expanded and environmental restoration activities will be carried out, which will ensure the environmental safety of the country, the creation of an environmental protection system, as well as the effective conservation of biological diversity and landscape.
Coordination of the National Program implementation will be carried out by the state body for natural resources management and protection of the environment. The second administrative level involved in the implementation of the National Program is the local public administration, within the competences established by law. The Academy of Sciences of Moldova will develop scientific support for the creation of a national environmental network.
The monitoring activities of this National Program are of a continuous nature, carried out throughout the entire implementation period, and include both the collection, processing and analysis of monitoring data, the identification of errors or unintended consequences, and the proposal of some possible adjustments to measures and planned activities. Monitoring shall be carried out on the basis of indicators of achievement, which will make it possible to track and evaluate the achievement of the general objectives set forth in this National Program and the achievement of the final objective in dynamics.