Britanny Region

With more than 2,700 kilometers of coastline, the Brittany region has the longest coastline of any region in France. In 2018, it adopted its first Sea and Coast roadmap strategy outlining the maritime  policy of Brittany by 2040, which is updated every five years. The current policy ambitions of the Region are promoting training and education in the maritime field, supporting the competitiveness and the sustainable development of the regional maritime economy, protecting the marine and coastal ecosystems and biodiversity, boosting research and innovation, enhancing the governance of maritime and coastal areas, and increasing the share of the marine renewable energies infrastructures. To achieve these goals, the Brittany Region both directly implements projects and supports third party actors’ activities. The Brittany Region regularly publishes call for expressions of interest in its webpage.

The Brittany region also established a fund aimed at protecting and restoring Brittany’s natural heritage and biodiversity, called “Biodiversité – Contrat Nature.” The scheme supports three categories of projects (“volets”). Category one projects’ main aim is to draw up and implement a territorial green and blue framework action plan, from territorial diagnosis to operational implementation. Category two projects focus on knowledge, preservation, restoration, management and enhancement of natural areas. Category three projects aim to develop knowledge of biodiversity on a regional scale.

In 2020, the region’s Biodiversity Agency of Brittany (“Agence Bretonne de la biodiversité”) acts as a gateway for project developers that seek access to funding in the area of preservation and restoration of biodiversity. The agency organises webinars and workshops on preparing applications for receiving European funding, shares news on public financing and essential documentary resources on all available financing. 

• Brittany Region’s generic aid: Call-specific

• Biodiversité – Contrat Nature

  Eligible applicants include local authorities and their grouping (municipalities, EPCIs, countries), public establishments, associations, public interest groups (GIP), mixed unions, state services.

• Eligible projects depend on the category of the project and can include awareness-raising and environmental education initiatives, studies prior to ecological engineering work, ecological engineering work, environmental protection and enhancement equipment, land acquisition required to preserve and/or restore a natural area on a long-term basis (subject to conditions), scientific monitoring and project-related awareness-raising, promotion and communication tools and initiatives. Specific eligibility requirements are category specific

• Brittany Region’s generic aids: Call-specific
• Biodiversité – Contrat Nature: up to 60% of total project value. More details here.

• Brittany Region’s generic aids: Call-specific
• Biodiversité – Contrat Nature:
  • Fill out the formal application here.
  • Add the relevant documents specified here.
  • Send the application to the Regional Council’s Natural Heritage and Biodiversity Department by e-mail to patrimoine.naturel@bretagne.bzh, addressed to:

Monsieur le Président du Conseil Régional de Bretagne
Direction du Climat, de l’Environnement, de l’Eau et de la Biodiversité (DCEEB)
Service patrimoine naturel et biodiversité
283 avenue du Général Patton
CS 21101
35711 RENNES

• Brittany Region maritime policy: https://www.bretagne.bzh/actions/mer/ 
• Brittany Region calls for expressions of interest: https://www.bretagne.bzh/aides/
• Biodiversité – Contrat Nature: https://www.bretagne.bzh/aides/fiches/contrat-nature/ 
• The Biodiversity Agency of Brittany: https://biodiversite.bzh/ 

Région Bretagne
Service Patrimoine naturel et biodiversité
E-mail: patrimoine.naturel@bretagne.bzh 
Phone number: +33 2 99 27 15 66