Background Forest, sub-alpine and alpine areas cover about 40% of Romania and comprise a range of rare and important species and habitats. Recent changes in land ownership pose a major threat to valuable forest habitats. Private as well as public owners are currently subject to growing economic pressure and - while public owners are under some obligations to preserve biodiversity - private owners often have little incentive to conserve biodiversity values. At the same time both land abandonment and intensification of land use are progressively leading to significant losses of biodiversity on sub-alpine and alpine pastures. Objectives The project targeted all known Romanian forest, sub-alpine and alpine areas covering a total project area of 6.5 million hectares. The overall objective was to prepare the designation of Romanian Natura 2000 sites for forests, sub-alpine and alpine habitats. The project aimed to identify, map and describe potential sites of Community importance (SCIs) according to the Habitats Directive. Management measures and monitoring guidelines would be prepared for areas these habitats in Romania. To ensure local understanding and acceptance, the project would implement awareness raising and training activities for key stakeholders and the general public. It would develop proposals for possible compensation schemes for the land owners in the future Natura 2000 sites and lobby the government for acceptance and implementation of these schemes. The potential economic and social benefits of the future Natura 2000 sites would be demonstrated in two protected areas, the Rodna and Ceahlau national parks. These case studies would demonstrate the exploitation of recreational and ecological values of nature as a possible alternative to intensified, uniform land uses. Results The project was technically well implemented and achieved its objectives. It contributed significantly to the development of Natura 2000 network in Romania both by its direct outputs and through influencing the whole Natura 2000 process by consultation with key stakeholders and lobbying by decision makers. The main direct outputs included: (i) Proposal of 56 sites for pSCIs located outside the existing protected areas (of these 50 sites were accepted and designated). (ii) Development of a ‘Habitat Manual’ for forest, sub-alpine and alpine habitats of Community interest in Romania – a basic reference concerning Natura 2000 in the country. Due to its importance and added scientific value, the manual received the annual award of the Romanian Academy in 2007 and is now the main reference source for habitats in Romania. (iii)Preparation and publishing of threat studies and of guidelines for the monitoring and management of target habitats. These studies were distributed to key stakeholders across the country. They are also available from the project website. (iv) Development of a system for compensation payments for private forest landowners. This has been recognized by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and serves as a model for compensation schemes for all habitats. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).