The Natura 2000 Awards, which celebrate and reward outstanding contributions to management of and communication about the Natura 2000 network, took place as a hybrid event this year. Finalists joined from around Europe by teleconference. The European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius announced the winners of the fifth edition of the Natura 2000 Awards. The project “Joint efforts for safe and wildlife-friendly transportation networks in the Carpathians” with partners in Romania, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic,  Slovakia, and Ukraine, won the Cross-border Cooperation and Networking Award for its interdisciplinary cooperation addressing landscape fragmentation in the Carpathian Mountains which should benefit a range of large carnivore species. The finalists also included a project on landscape connectivity for large carnivores in Romania.

The DINALP BEAR LIFE project won the nature protection category at the LIFE Awards 2020 which took place as an online event during the Green Week. The Awards recognise innovative, inspirational and effective LIFE projects in three categories: climate action, environment and nature protection. The projects role in bringing together different stakeholders to work together on coexistence was recognised and rewarded.