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Newsletter Nr 7

Newsletter Nr 6

Lithuania showcases innovation and green transition at the 58 EU PAs Directors’ Conference in Copenhagen

The 58th Conference of EU Paying Agencies’ Directors took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 19–21 November 2025, bringing together the EU Paying Agencies’senior representatives to discuss innovation, simplification, data governance, and the evolving role of AI in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as well as the future direction of the CAP development, with a strong focus on interoperability, AI applications, and green transition. The representative of the Lithuanian National Paying Agency (NPA) – Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas – took part in the event and familiarised the audience with the NPA achievements in carrying out the multiple objectives of the CAP in Lithuania. 

The sessions of the 58th Conference of EU Paying Agencies Directorsfocused on several key themes, including:
• The use of AI in the administration of support schemes;
• Administrative simplification and improved institutional efficiency;
• Modernisation of processes and advancing the green transition in the agricultural sector.

Over three days, delegates engaged in high-level presentations, thematic workshops, pitches and exchanges on best practices – particularly on AI applications, administrative simplification, aerial monitoring, and performance audit findings.

During the conference a key intervention was made by Tomas Orlickas, Deputy Director of the National Paying Agency (NPA) of Lithuania: “Research and development activities for more effective implementation of Lithuania’s CAP Strategic Plan” In his presentation, Tomas Orlickas highlighted Lithuania’s comprehensive  contribution to the EU-funded research, development, and innovation initiatives designed to strengthen the implementation of the CAP Strategic Plan and support the transition towards a more sustainable, modern, and data-driven agricultural sector. The Deputy Director presented Lithuania’s ongoing research and innovation initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency, accuracy, and strategic coherence of the country’s CAP Strategic Plan implementation.

The Deputy  Director also pointed out that the NPA’s Research & Development activities are closely aligned with EU priorities for digital transformation, environmental performance, transparency, and administrative efficiency. Tomas Orlickas outlined the importance of environmental monitoring, modelling of agricultural practices and tools that help measure biodiversity, carbon impacts and land-use changes, that are essential for delivering the green architecture of CAP. The showcased key initiatives included a number of projects with BirdWatch being among them.  

The Horizon Europe BirdWatch project aims to create a service that evaluates habitat suitability and supports biodiversity by integrating Earth Observation data with species and habitat modelling. Its main activities involve:

• Developing a spatial modelling and monitoring system that brings together remote-sensing inputs, bird observation records, thematic maps, species distribution models (SDMs), and biodiversity metrics.
• Allowing users to assess habitat suitability at the parcel level, determine which eco-schemes (environmental practices) are most effective in enhancing habitats, and estimate the associated economic impacts.
• Delivering these functionalities through an online platform.

BirdWatch serves as a central source of bird data and species distribution models, which feed into biodiversity indicators and spatio-temporal analyses. It is designed to offer practical guidance, such as determining how appropriate a given area is for various bird species, identifying the eco-schemes most likely to improve habitat quality, and evaluating the financial benefits of such measures for farmers.

The presentation was followed by a Q&A session, allowing other Paying Agencies to explore how similar innovation-focused approaches could strengthen CAP implementation across the EU.

Overall, the conference underscored a shared commitment among EU Paying Agencies to modernisation, interoperability, and innovation, setting the stage for enhanced collaboration.

September 2025: Lithuania hosts the 24th Conference of the Baltic and Polish Paying Agencies

On 24–26 September 2025, the National Paying Agency (NPA), Lithuania, invited the paying agencies of the Baltic States and Poland to the conference “Innovations and Technologies – the Driving Force of the Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development 2023–2027”. Agricultural progress, good farming practices, and the use of artificial intelligence in the paying agency activities were the main topics discussed by the conference participants this year.

The conference was dedicated to discussing current issues in the agricultural sector, innovations and sharing experience in support administration.

NPA Director Fortunatas Dirginčius welcomed the conference participants and emphasized that today, in the field of agriculture, when implementing the Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development of Lithuania 2023–2027 (Strategic Plan), many tasks are being taken over by robots and automated systems: “Modern methods of plant fertilisation, automated processes, innovations that allow monitoring farm activities and performing their analysis are no longer the future. Farmers are already using such tools today.”

The presentations delivered during the conference included those by NPA’s Director Fortunatas Dirginčius presenting digital solutions in implementing the Strategic Plan, by the Control Department Director on ALNSIS 1.0 and 2.0 regarding control and administrative systems, followed by presentations of the Latvian paying agency representative about shared Earth Observation platforms, insights from private innovation providers (on image classification, Sentinel-2 image use). Representatives of paying agencies from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland discussed on the digital and information technology solutions used in their activities and stressed their importance in administering support measures. Active and meaningful discussions with colleagues were especially useful in seeking joint solutions on how to improve the support administration process and ensure smooth and high-quality agency work.

The presentation delivered by the NPA Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas focused on the NPA’s international projects, the interplay of support measures under the Strategic Plan, and lessons learned through its implementation. The international projects were presented as elements integrated in an overall digital ecosystem that includes parcel delineation, crop classification, and remote sensing, supporting Lithuania’s CAP Strategic Plan and more biodiversity-sensitive agricultural policy. In his presentation the NPA Deputy Director also focused on the international projects as part of a wider area modeling and monitoring system being developed by the National Paying Agency, highlighting the BirdWatch project among them.  

Horizon Europe BirdWatch project is an initiative with its purpose to develop a service for habitat suitability and biodiversity support, combining Earth Observation data and species / habitat modeling. Its activities include:

• Building a spatial model (as a modeling & monitoring system”) that incorporates remote sensing, bird observations, feature maps, species distribution modeling (SDMs), and biodiversity indicators.

• Assessing by users habitat suitability per parcel, identifying which eco-schemes (environmental measures) best improve habitat, and forecast economic outcomes.

• Operating via an online platform.

BirdWatch is positioned as a source of bird observations and species distribution models that feed into biodiversity indicators, spatio-temporal analyses, and an online platform. The aim is to answer practical questions such as how suitable a given area is for different bird species, which eco-schemes could improve habitat conditions, and what financial impact those measures would have for farmers.

EC representative: NPA is an example to follow

Last  week Oliver Sitar, Director of the European Commission’s (EC) Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG Agri), accompanied by representatives of the EC agricultural and rural development policy sector, and of the Ministry of Agriculture, visited the National Paying Agency (NPA) in Lithuania.

The purpose of the visit to the NPA was to  familiarise with the institution’s key processes, the principles of EU support administration and monitoring. The EC representative was particularly interested in the NPA as an organisation with its 26 years of experience, annually paying out around 1 billion euros of the EU support to the agricultural sector. In his presentation, NPA Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas explained how the agency’s knowledge and experience have been accumulated, applied and improved on a regular basis, thus shaping the unique history of the NPA’s activities. He also outlined the innovative tools that are actively implemented and used, as well as their benefits and future prospects. The NPA Deputy Director also highlighted the role of international projects with the participation of the NPA. These initiatives play a significant role in further development, testing and introduction of innovations in the daily activities of the institution.

Among the highlighted projects  –  BirdWatch, funded by the Horizon Europe programme. The project is focused on preserving and maintaining the biodiversity, namely, implementation of preventive and protection measures by combining Earth Observation data and species / habitat modeling in project partners‘ countries as regards the local bird species being on the brink of extinction.

The guest was especially impressed by the advanced remote monitoring tools, that are used and continuously developed by the NPA, and expressed his positive view on their further elaboration. This area attracted significant interest and numerous questions from the visitors regarding both the current benefits of these tools – ensuring the quality, efficiency, convenience and reliability of inspections – and their future perspectives. EC representative Oliver Sitar noted that the NPA’s operations and certain processes, particularly inspections, deserve attention across Europe, and that innovative technologies, such as satellite-assisted optimisation of monitoring, should serve as an example for institutions working in the agricultural sectors of other EU Member States. He expressed a firm position that the dialogue between the NPA and EC representatives should continue.

Oliver Sitar’s visit to the NPA was an important part of his broader mission to gain first-hand insight into Lithuania’s agricultural sector, with the aim of ensuring a fair and robust future for the EU Common Agricultural Policy and support conditions in the 2028–2034 financial perspective. The visit was organised by the EC Representation in Lithuania, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture.

June 2025 – Newsletter 5

What have we been up to, our outreach activities and a guest article about agri-environmental measures in Germany by our project partner Bioland:

Greeting from our Lithuanian partners NPA: Lapwing day🎉

Today, March 19th, we in Lithuania celebrate Lapwing Day, marking the return of these beautiful birds – lapwings (Pempė in Lithuanian) – to our fields and meadows. Their arrival has long been seen as a sign of spring, renewal, and good fortune.
In Lithuanian tradition, farmers used to listen for the first lapwing’s call to predict the season ahead, and the bird often appears in folklore as a symbol of freedom and resilience. Even today, spotting the first lapwing of the year is a moment of joy for many nature lovers.

On this special day, we send our best wishes and hope that the BirdWatch platform will help to protect and expand habitats for these wonderful birds, ensuring they remain a thriving part of our landscapes.

Baltic-Polish Conference 2024 and Grain Forum 2024

On 4-6 September 2024 the National Paying Agency (NPA) took part in the 23nd annual Baltic and Polish Paying Agencies’ Conference in Tartu, Estonia. The conference was hosted by the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (Estonian paying agency ARIB). Representatives of the paying agencies from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Finland had an opportunity to exchange information, share best practices, and consult on daily operational issues, aimed at the effective and efficient implementation of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Presentations were delivered on the achievements and experiences of paying agencies related to the administration of activities under the Rural Development Programmes and Strategic Plans 2023-2027, discussed current problems and challenges related to the implementation of activities within the framework of the CAP. Among those – presentations on data valorisation and the use of BI (Business Intelligence) dashboards to increase efficiency in ARIB, Estonia, optimisation of the process of handling agricultural investment applications by the Polish paying agency ARMA, information about the results of the first year of CAP reform related to IACS payments in Latvia, presented by the Latvian paying agency RSS.

During the conference, the NPA Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas delivered a presentation “AMS current and future impact”. In his presentation the NPA Deputy Director not only introduced to the audience the area monitoring system (AMS implementation) results in Lithuania, but also familiarised the participants of the conference with the ongoing international projects with the participation of the NPA, including the Horizon Europe project BirdWatch, with its objective to create a digital platform for the improvement of bird habitats in cultivated lands, using satellite data and optimizing the environmental protection measures (ecoschemes) of the Common Agricultural Policy, thus contributing to the biodiversity enhancement. The platform under development is based on the requirements and specifics identified by the project partners. It will be possible to achieve the project‘s ultimate objective of increasing biodiversity in certain territories with the help of the digital mapping platform. While using the platform with its optimisation module and following specific guidelines, the farmers will be able to identify habitats of bird species available at that site and to carry out the recommended actions. Thus favourable conditions will be created for those bird species to breed. This can be achieved by, for example, varying mowing regimes, planting or seeding with native tree and shrub species, or occasional soil disturbance.

This year’s workshops focused on the practicalities of implementing the monitoring system and the simplification of investment measures (artificial intelligence, control systems, simplified cost methods). On the final day the Lithuanian Paying Agency, NPA, was announced the host of the Y2025 Conference of the Paying Agencies of the Baltic States and Poland.
Annual meetings comprising discussions on the most pressing issues and technological solutions related to the administration of support for agriculture and rural development help to improve the support administration process and the activities of neighbouring paying agencies.

NPA participated in the Estonian „Grain Forum 2024“

A national conference „Grain Forum 2024“ organised by the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce, took place in Tallinn, Estonia, on 19 November, 2024. Current trends in the grain sector, technological innovations and market prospects were discussed during the event. The questions on legal regulation of carbon farming in contracts with the producers at the national and the European level, food safety in Estonia and worldwide as well as other topics were touched upon during the event. About 60 representatives of the sector, including experts from the Estonian ministries, research organisations and business enterprises attended the conference.

The National Payment Agency (NPA), Lithuania, as well as the EU Copa-Cogeca have received invitation to take part in the conference as guests. Claude Soude, Vice-Chairman of the Oilseeds Working Group, Copa-Cogeca, spoke about the EU regulatory burden and ways of coping with it. Martynas Rimgaila, Adviser to the Direct Support Unit, Control Department, NPA, delivered a presentation “Inspection mechanisms and remote monitoring“ and introduced the audience to the NPA’s latest initiatives and solutions contributing to more effective control and supervision within the sector. In his presentation, the Adviser, inter alia, familiarised the participants of the conference with the ongoing international projects with the participation of the NPA, including the Horizon Europe project BirdWatch, with its objective to create a digital platform for the improvement of bird habitats in cultivated lands, using satellite data and optimizing the environmental protection measures (ecoschemes) of the Common Agricultural Policy, thus contributing to the biodiversity enhancement. The platform under development is based on the requirements and specifics identified by the project partners. It will be possible to achieve the project‘s ultimate objective of increasing biodiversity in certain territories with the help of the digital mapping platform. While using the platform with its optimisation module and following specific guidelines, the farmers will be able to identify habitats of bird species available at that site and to carry out the recommended actions. Thus favourable conditions will be created for those bird species to breed. This can be achieved by, for example, varying mowing regimes, planting or seeding with native tree and shrub species, or occasional soil disturbance.

December 2024 – Newsletter 4

June 2024 – Newsletter 3

Dec 2023 – Newsletter 2

June 2023 – Newsletter 1

Feb 27 – 28, 2023 Kick-Off Meeting

On February 27 and 28, 2023, we held the kickoff in the city of Turnhout in Flanders, Belgium.
We took a detour through the agricultural landscape and protected areas to spot some of our target birds.

Also many thanks to the people from Gustaaf Klimt for providing the location, food and bikes.

Read our summary publication here