As A non-governmental organizsation we believe that nature should be protected not from people, but with people

Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania is a non-profit public organization that carries out environmental activities.

Mission

As a non-governmental organization, we strive for a clean and healthy environment, natural resources being properly used, rich natural diversity guaranteed for the future generations, and employees feeling happy working. We believe that nature should be protected not from people, but with people.

Today, our main areas of activity are biodiversity protection, agri-environment, rural development, natural tourism, sustainable development, management of hazardous chemicals, and corporate social responsibility

Principles

By protecting nature, we keep in constant touch with the public, striving for nature to be understandable, close and own for everyone. We believe that only by personal experience in nature a person can understand its benefits and necessity, find the answer to the question “why do we need to protect nature?” We continue to encourage such experiences in nature. We want to find the best ways for a person to live in harmony with nature in a way that does not obscure or destroy it. We seak not to fight, but to find constructive dialogue. We are an open organization providing a comprehensive activity report to the public every year, proactively communicating with the media, willingly accepting motivated trainees and volunteers. Every year, we evaluate not only our work, but also our environmental impact. When purchasing goods or services, we regularly evaluate not only the cost-efficiency criteria, but also the ecological criteria (i.e. we apply green procurement), we choose local production wherever possible.

We act:

• As artists – with inspiration, flair, deep reflection, creativity, originality.
• As experts – by presenting a comprehensive picture, knowledge and experience, firmly adhering to your reasoned opinion.
• As friends – simple, clear, pleasant, using understandable language.
• With love – we work a lot and believe in our ideas.

Cooperation

Cooperation

We work with a variety of organizations that share our values and beliefs that people can live in harmony with nature. We are constantly working with various state institutions related to environmental protection, business enterprises, science institutions and other organizations in Lithuania and abroad, we participate in NGO forums, national working groups.

Since 2003 the organization belongs to the international network – the BEF group, which consists of offices in Latvia, Estonia and Germany. Since 2006 we are a member of VivaSol, an association that promotes the survival and development of small farms, craftsmen and other rural residents. From 2010 we are a member of the International Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team, which takes care of the survival of the rarest European songbird. From 2014 a member of a coalition of public interest groups and organizations expressing concerns about the health and wildlife impact of endocrine disruptors (EDCs) – EDC-Free Europe. In 2017 we joined the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism to promote nature-friendly extensive farming and the Rewildening Europe network to make Europe more wild and natural. In 2023 we joined the “Landcare Europe” – the network that brings together agriculture, nature conservation and communities for biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and quality of life In European cultural heritage landscapes. In 2024 we became members of “Eurosite” – a network of European land conservation practitioners, working on the protection, restoration and stewardship of nature.

About bef group

Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF) was founded as a technical assistance project aiming to strengthen the co-operation among Baltic environmental authorities by the Baltic Ministries of Environment, Germany and the European Commission in 1995.

Then the main goal of the organization was to strengthen cooperation between the Baltic state institutions in the field of environmental protection in preparation for accession to the European Union. Through its activities, the Baltic Environment Forum has contributed to the process of integration of countries by organizing workshops and training visits for specialists of state institutions.

At the end of the project, An environmental NGO network called Baltic Environmental Forum Group with offices in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Germany was established. 2005 The group was joined by the St.Petersburg Cross-border Cooperation Center, which was a member of the group until 2015. In that year, this organization ceased its activities on the Russian government’s policy of accusing international environmental NGOs of being „foreign agents“.