The region of Tarnava Mare in Southern Transylvania contains extensive semi-natural open landscapes maintained by predominantly low-intensity farming, which is widespread in Romania and indeed many areas of Eastern Europe. Threats to these species-rich habitats from agricultural intensification and land abandonment have been increasing in recent years, to a large extent linked with Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007. At the same time, however, the opportunities for biodiversity conservation in the area have expanded. In 2008, the region became a Site of Community Importance (SCI) as part of the Natura 2000 network, and farmers have applied agri-environment schemes as part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy since 2006. Furthermore, the Tarnava Mare region has been the location of several EU and nationally funded projects combining research, practical and information measures. In this article, we review these various instruments from the practical perspective of an NGO that has been working since 2004 to support High Nature Value farmland and rural communities in this region. We focus on three major support measures - agri-environment schemes, Natura 2000, and publicly funded conservation projects - and consider their effects individually and collectively. We conclude that the presence of multiple instruments can have synergistic effects on the conservation of semi-natural open habitats such as HNV farmland, and that this overlap provides a certain amount of resilience: if one instrument fails, another may fill the gap. Cross-cutting projects combining research with activities to tackle the “problem” of the socio-economic undesirability of low-intensity farming as well as the “symptom” of the loss of HNV farmland are also particularly important in this context. Na območju Tarnava Mare v južni Transilvaniji najdemo ekstenzivno polnaravno odprto krajino, ki se ohranja predvsem z nizko intenzivnim kmetijstvom, ki je splošno razširjeno v Romuniji in številnih drugih območjih v vzhodni Evropi. Ogroženost teh vrstno bogatih habitatov se v zadnjih letih povečuje zaradi intenziviranja kmetijstva in opuščanja obdelovanja kar je v veliki meri povezano z vstopom Romunije v EU leta 2007. Obenem pa so se na tem območju povečale možnosti za ohranjanje biodiverzitete. V letu 2008 je regija postala območje pomembno za skupnost (SCI) kot del omrežja Natura 2000 in kmetje so se vključili v kmetijsko- -okoljske sheme kot del skupne kmetijske politike EU od leta 2006. Dodatno so v regiji Tarnava Mare izvajali številne evropske in nacionalne projekte v kombinaciji z znanstvenimi raziskavami, praktičnimi ukrepi in osveščanjem. V članku predstavljamo različne praktične inštrumente z vidika NVO, ki podpira kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) od leta 2004 in podeželsko skupnost v tej regiji. Osredotočili smo se na tri glavne podporne ukrepe - kmetijsko-okoljske sheme, Naturo 2000 in javno financirane naravovarstvene projekte in preučili njihove posamične in skupen učinek. Zaključimo lahko, da imajo lahko številni inštrumenti sinergistične učinke na varstvo pol naravnih odprtih habitatov, kot je na primer kmetijstvo z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV). To prekrivanje ukrepov zagotavlja določeno odpornost, saj če en inštrument ni uspešen, ga lahko nadomesti drugi. Interdisciplinarni projekti, ki združujejo raziskave z dejavnostmi, ki rešujejo probleme socio-ekonomske nezaželenosti kmetovanja z nizko intenzivnostjo in zmanjševanja kmetovanja z z visoko vrednostjo narave (HNV) so še posebej pomembni v tem okviru.