BioClima Biodiversity-and-Climate Credit Scheme (Italy)

The BioClima programme was launched by Lombardy Region (Italy) in 2022 as a competitive grant scheme pairing public investment with mandatory private corporate co-financing to deliver certified ecosystem services across the regional protected area network.

Lombardy Region awarded €3.5 million in grants to conservation bodies — parks, consortia, and municipalities — operating within the regional protected area network. A mandatory 30% private co-financing requirement unlocked additional investment: over 100 corporate sponsors contributed approximately €1.5 million, bringing total mobilised finance to about €5.6 million.

Twelve projects were funded across Lombardy's parks. Outcomes by programme close (December 2025): over 66,000 trees planted, more than 300 hectares of forest under improved management, and 4,635 hectares of park forest brought under FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. Independent FSC® third-party auditors confirmed that 1,463 hectares met the certified ecosystem-service impact thresholds required to generate voluntary BioClima credits.

Corporate buyers purchase credits via the WOWnature platform (operated by Etifor), enabling companies to quantify and communicate their biodiversity and climate co-benefits. The scheme is documented by the EU-funded INTERLACE research network as a replicable sub-national voluntary market model. A parallel intervention in the Orobie Valtellinesi Park recorded 187 hectares of targeted improvements, confirmed by the ALPARC alpine parks network.

Limitations: no peer-reviewed ecological evaluation has been published; Etifor serves as both programme coordinator and technology provider; FSC® certification verifies forest management practice, not specific species recovery outcomes.

Read the full analysis: https://www.etifor.com/en/portfolio/bando-bioclima/