Beneficiaries

The funding may be provided by:

• farmers;
• public or private entities in possession of the agricultural and forestry land concerned by the operations.

Operation A will give priority to activities located in the territories of the Natura 2000 Area or in areas of high naturalistic value. Maximum intervention volume will be pair to 1,500 cubic metres.
The beneficiary must maintain the intended use of the facilities being invested for at least five years after payment of the balance. 

The recovery interventions must follow the “Guidelines for the protection, restoration and interventions on the dry stone structures of Puglia"; of the Regional Territorial Landscape Plan of the Region of Puglia. Compliance with the Management Plans and regulations in the Protected Natural Areas where approved. 

Renovation and maintenance work on items of a productive nature relating to residential or commercial buildings is not eligible for financing.

Objectives 

• preserving, protecting and spreading biodiversity and agro-forestry systems of high naturalistic value;
• mitigating hydrogeological risks; 
• improving soil management.

The sub-measure 4.4.A aims at safeguarding dry stone structures to conserve biodiversity. 

Selection criteria 

The application for funding will be assessed, depending on the type of intervention, on the basis of the following criteria: 

• localisation of the activity in the Natura 2000 area or in areas of high naturalistic value; 
• a holding with an area under organic or integrated farming method.

Eligible expenditure 
The financing covers the costs of restoration and recovery: 

• rural dry stone products: walls and jazzi, without the use of mortar, cement or protective nets; 
• ancillary elements such as tank with relative water and snow conveying system; 
• natural and semi-natural habitats: flesh-houses, hedges, buffer strips 
• permanent and temporary springs and small wetlands.

Scope of support 

Funding covers 100% of eligible costs.