European Commission

New publication out! Best LIFE-Nature Projects 2010

15 December 2011The EU Member States represented on the LIFE Committee and the European Commission's LIFE Nature Unit have announced the Best LIFE Nature Projects 2010. The 18 projects selected represent the most successful of the recently completed LIFE Nature projects, in terms of best practices and/or demonstration actions on nature conservation and the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives.

Read more >>

Hautes Fagnes status renewed thanks to LIFE project

05 December 2011The Council of Europe has renewed the European Diploma of the Hautes Fagnes natural reserve in Belgium for a further ten years in recognition of the preservation work carried out in the area, in particular the actions taken by the LIFE project, ‘PLTHautes-Fagnes – Rehabilitation of heaths and mires on the Hautes-Fagnes Plateau’ (LIFE06 NAT/B/000091).

The European Diploma of Protected Areas was created in 1965 and is awarded to protected areas for their outstanding scientific, cultural or aesthetic qualities. Areas must also be subject to suitable conservation schemes. In 1966 the Hautes Fagnes became one of the first areas to receive the diploma, which has subsequently been renewed every five years.

Read more >>

Five EU municipalities acknowledged for their commitment to biodiversity conservation

02 December 2011LIFE’s Capitals of Biodiversity project (LIFE07 ENV/D/000224) held a high profile award ceremony in Brussels on December 24th. The LIFE project, which has successfully encouraged European municipalities to “lead the way in local biodiversity protection”, awarded five prizes that were presented by Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment.

Award winning municipalities from Hungary (Szentes), Slovakia (Kremnica), Spain (Puebla de Sanabria), France (Montpellier) and Germany (Hannover) were praised by the Commissioner for their commitment and contributions to help meet EU 2020 biodiversity targets.

Read more >>

Commission officials and NGOs get their hands dirty for nature

30 November 2011European Commission representatives, including many members of the LIFE Nature Unit, recently gathered at the ‘Plateau de la Foresterie’ Natura 2000 site in Brussels, alongside European environmental NGO representatives, to become green volunteers for a day.
The event was organised by the EUROPARC Federation, the voice of Europe’s protected natural areas, to mark the European Year of Volunteering and as part of the EU’s Lifelong Learning project, ‘Volunteer Management in European Parks’.

Read more >>

Environment: Major expansion of Europe's protected natural areas

22 November 2011Natura 2000, the EU's network of protected areas, has undergone a significant expansion. Nearly 18.800 square kilometres have been added, including a major addition of marine areas covering 17.000 square kilometres which will increase protection for many endangered marine species. The network now covers almost 18% of the EU's landmass and more than 145.000 km² of its seas. The main countries involved in this latest expansion are the UK, France, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Lithuania and Italy. Natura 2000 is the centrepiece of Europe's battle to halt biodiversity loss and safeguard ecosystem services.

Read more >>

EU focus on waste reduction

18 November 2011The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) will run for the third time between 19 and 27 November 2011. The week, which is supported by of the LIFE+ Programme, aims to inform European citizens about the simple actions that they can take in their everyday lives to reduce waste.

A total of 7035 EWWR actions are being implemented in 2011, a significant increase on 4346 actions in 2010. The week will employ 34 organisers in 20 countries to mobilise stakeholders and validate their actions. (To view the list of organisers and actions, visit the EWWR website.

Read more >>

Giant nets capture new life on UK moor

17 November 2011MoorLIFE, one of the largest conservation projects in the UK, has started spreading the target 33 km of geo-textile netting on to the moor surface of Bleaklow to help reduce erosion of the peat and establish a new layer of vegetation. The Bleaklow conservation work site, which stretches from Sheffield and Manchester, is clearly visible to air passengers flying in and out of local airports.

Bio-degradeable geo-textiles, which look like large fishing nets, are being lifted by helicopter in bales on to selected areas of bare peat on the moor.  It is then spread by local contractors and pegged on to bare-sided haggs and groughs (deep eroded channels carved into the peat) to reduce erosion and trap sown seed to help increase vegetation on these steep-sided areas.

Read more >>

Schoolchildren complete the mural of Mulkear

15 November 2011A brightly coloured mural illustrating the work of MulkearLIFE, a river restoration project being carried out in County Limerick in Ireland, was completed recently by students of Lios Na Groi, National School, Lisnagry. The children painted in pictures of sea lamprey, atlantic salmon and otter, which have benefited from the project's actions to restore damaged habitats.

The original sketches were produced by mural artist, Neil O' Dwyer, and the children's work added great vitality to the overall composition. The children were congratulated by members of the Annacotty Tidy Town Committee including committee chairperson, Yvonne Fogarty who warmly thanked all the children.

Read more >>

Houting conference provides networking know-how for stream restoration

04 November 2011The LIFE Nature Houting project (LIFE05 NAT/DK/000153) staged a successful international conference focusing on the restoration of rivers and streams last month. Some 90 participants attended the event at Tønder in Denmark from 03 to 05 October 2011. The conference included a keynote presentation by the coordinators of the Danish project and excursions to several of the sites restored for the benefit of the houting (Coregonus oxyrhynchus), a highly endangered white fish whose reproductive range is limited to six river systems in Denmark.

Read more >>

The return of the griffon vulture celebrated in Bulgaria

25 October 2011The Second National Vulture Festival, which was held in 14 October, 2011 in Sliven, Bulgaria, was another huge success. Organised by ‘the Vultures Return in Bulgaria’ (LIFE08 NAT/BG/278) project, the event has become an essential part of the campaign to raise awareness about the need to safeguard this endangered bird of prey.

The festival attracted students from six schools and kindergartens from Sliven and neighbouring towns, such as Roza and Drazhevo, as well as many parents, passers-by and vulture lovers from all over the country. The children drew vultures from realistic dummies, and sang and danced to celebrate the return of these magnificent birds to Sliven. (The birds are returning to sites where they haven’t been seen for more than 50 years!)

Read more >>

Commissioner Potočnik to announce more Capitals of Biodiversity

20 October 2011The LIFE+ Environment Capital of Biodiversity project (LIFE07 ENV/D/000224) will announce the names of the second group of cities to be made "European Capitals of Biodiversity" at an event in Brussels next month. 

The European Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potočnik, will present the European Capitals of Biodiversity 2011 awards at ICLEI's 10th "Breakfast at Sustainability's (B@S) event on Thursday 24 November 2011, in the Liaison Office of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol (Italy) in Brussels. More than 500 municipalities from France, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain participated in the contest, which has been led by the LIFE project beneficiary Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V..

The first four "Capitals of Biodiversity" were named in 2010 as Grande Sythe in France, Tata in Hungary, El Real Sitio de San Ildefonso in Spain and Želiezovce in Slovakia.

Read more >>

New nature conservation benefits flow from Prespa basin agreement in the Balkans

14 October 2011An agreement last week by the EU has opened the door for a new integrated management approach to nature conservation in the Prespa basin. Situated on the borders between Greece, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, this 2500 km2 basin includes wetlands designated as Ramsar Sites. The area is especially important for water birds, notably the largest breeding colony of Dalmatian pelicans in the world and eight unique fish species also depend on the basin's aquatic habitat. These endemic fish are found only in the Prespa basin and nowhere else in the world. LIFE project support has been involved in helping set up sustainable fishery methods in the Prespa basin to conserve these fish which are protected by EU law.

Read more >>

Workshop reveals progress of innovative project to reuse port sediment

12 October 2011The LIFE+ ENV project SEDI.PORT.SIL (LIFE09 ENV/IT/000158), has staged the first of two interim workshops as part of its aim to demonstrate an integrated approach to the sustainable management of sediment dredged from ports.

The workshop, held in Rome, Italy on 20 September, provided an opportunity to update stakeholders and other interested parties on the progress of activities and experiments designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of physical-chemical and organic techniques to treat sediments and to develop systems to extract silicon from the sediments dredged from the port of Ravenna, with the aim of re-using them.

Read more >>

Help LIFE celebrate its 20th anniversary!

11 October 2011The LIFE programme celebrates its 20th anniversary in May 2012. To mark this important milestone in the history of the EU's financial instrument for the environment, the LIFE unit invites you to take part in not one but two special competitions.

LIFE has generated 20 years' worth of fantastic photography from projects all over the EU and beyond. Millions of words have also been written about the thousands of excellent projects that LIFE has co-funded over the last two decades. In recognition of this fact and to mark the 20 years of the programme, the LIFE unit is organising a photo competition and a 20 words competition open to all LIFE projects past or present. The closing date for both competitions is 15 DECEMBER 2011.

Read more >>

EWWR plans pan-European 'clean-up day'

10 October 2011The 3rd European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) - 19-27 November 2011 - is set to involve citizens from across Europe in actions based around four key issues:  reducing paper waste; reducing food waste, reducing excessive packaging; and encouraging the repair and/or reuse of 'waste' products and materials.

Following on from the success of the 'BatucaMob' that took place simultaneously across 10 countries to launch the 2nd EWWR, citizens and organisations are being encouraged to participate in another common action to underline the pan-European aspect of the Week - a 'clean-up day'. The aim of the day will be for participants to collect and measure the amount of waste illegally dumped in their area, particularly in those of natural beauty such as forests, beaches and mountains.

Read more >>

MoorLIFE project is bringing life back to the bogs

06 October 2011Professor Sir John Lawton, an eminent British ecologist who is currently advising the UK government on its approach to the natural environment, recently visited the UK MoorLIFE project. On a drizzly day, Sir Lawton was shown the restoration works that have been carried out on Black Hill, one of the landmark summits in the Pennines. The ongoing 'MoorLIFE: Active blanket bog restoration in the South Pennine Moors' (LIFE08 NAT/UK/000202) project is one of the biggest moorland conservation initiatives in Europe.

Professor Lawton described the conservation efforts as absolutely extraordinary, a win-win situation four times over. "You win in terms of water quality, you win on carbon, you win on landscape, and you win on wildlife conservation," he said.

Read more >>

Results of invertebrates platform meeting now available

05 October 2011 The conclusions of the LIFE Platform Meeting on terrestrial invertebrates are now available to download by clicking on the link below. The meeting, hosted by Natural England (and organised by the Astrale monitoring team), attracted more than 30 delegates to Newquay, Cornwall in June. The goal was to bring together invertebrate conservation practitioners from across Europe to discuss some of the most important issues regarding the conservation of these species -  from butterflies to bees, saproxylic beetles to dragonflies.

Read more >>

Highlighting the innovation and replicability of Italian LIFE Environment projects

04 October 2011A new publication from the Italian Ministry of the Environment, and the protection of Land and Sea, provides an in-depth look at the impact of the LIFE Environment programme for the period of LIFE II and III (1996-2006). The brochure, Il successo del Programma LIFE Ambiente in Italia: esempi di soulzioni innovative replicabili a livello nazionale ("The success of the LIFE Environment Programme in Italy: examples of innovative solutions replicated at national level"), is divided into four sections: The first section of the publication summarises what the LIFE Environment programme does, outlines the results obtained by LIFE Environment in Italy, explains the role of the National Contact Point, highlights Italian LIFE Environment projects that have been awarded 'Best' project status by the European Commission and introduces LIFE+.

Read more >>

Beach campaign primes the public about posidonia residues

23 September 2011Three municipalities in southern Italy have partnered with the LIFE Environment project, P.R.I.M.E. – Posidonia Residues Integrated Management for Eco-Sustainability (LIFE09 ENV/IT/000061) – to raise public awareness of the problems linked to the management of Posidonia oceanica residues on beaches. Every year coastal communities in Puglia must collect and send to landfill thousands of tonnes of this foul-smelling type of seagrass, a costly process that also requires the use of heavy machinery, with potentially adverse environmental impacts.

Read more >>

New publication out! Best LIFE Environment Projects 2010

21 September 2011The EU Member States represented on the LIFE Committee and the European Commission's LIFE Unit have announced the Best LIFE Environment Projects 2010. The results of the selection, as approved by the LIFE Committee members in the spring of 2011, are the 13 projects featured in this publication. These projects represent the most recent successful LIFE Environment projects in terms of their contribution to immediate and long-term environmental, economic and social improvements; their degree of innovation and transferability; their relevance to policy; and their cost-effectiveness.

Read more >>

Greater expectations for LIFE+ 2011 European Week for Waste Reduction

09 September 2011Following growing success in 2009 and 2010, the third and final phase of the LIFE+ Information & Communication campaign, the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), will take place on 19-27 November 2011. The 2011 ‘Week’ will involve public authorities and a wide variety of project sponsors (government, communities, school groups or NGOs) from across the EU. With 524 kg of municipal waste generated on average per person in Europe (2008 Eurostat), the aim is to raise awareness of ways of reducing waste and to promote changes in production and consumption patterns.

During last year’s campaign, over 4 300 awareness raising actions were successfully implemented in 24 EU Member States.

Read more >>

Lower Rhine area conservation boosts bird populations

31 August 2011On the International Day of Biodiversity, 22 May, Dr Angelica Schwall-Düren, minister for European affairs in the Northrhine-Westphalian government, and Josef Tumbrinck, president of the local NABU, a nature protection society in the Lower Rhine region, along with other NABU representatives, visited the successful ongoing nature conservation project for wetland bird species in the Hetter.

The area of Hetter-Millinger Bruch, a Special Area of Conservation and part of the Lower Rhine Special Protection Area, is the site of a LIFE Nature project (LIFE07 NAT/D/000232) carried out by NABU.

Read more >>

New video celebrates Hungarian meadow viper births

10 August 2011The LIFE Nature CONVIPURSRAK project in Hungary (LIFE07 NAT/HU/000322) has released a new English-subtitled video to celebrate the success of its ex-situ conservation efforts. The video, which can be viewed online, explains how the project's LIFE co-funded conservation centre (opened in 2004 and previously supported by LIFE04 NAT/HU/000116) has enabled captive breeding and reintroduction of the Hungarian meadow viper (Vipera ursinii rakosiensis), one of the EU's most endangered snakes (only 500 specimens exist in the wild). Most interestingly for a lay audience, the video includes footage of the birth of the vipers, a rarely seen event.

Read more >>

Dutch ambassador releases griffon vulture in Bulgaria

05 August 2011Karel van Kesteren, the Dutch ambassador to Bulgaria, has donated 500 Bulgarian lev to name and release a griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus). The bird, which was one of two transported from the Dutch Zoo of Amersfoort, was released as part of the project, ‘Vultures Return in Bulgaria’ (LIFE08 NAT/BG/000278). The two-year old vulture now bears the name Giertje (little vulture).

Mr Kesteren visited the Wildlife Rescue Centre at Green Balkans – Stara Zagora to see where the bird was accommodated before its release. The move is part of a wide-scale public campaign to fit extra transmitters to birds and allow researchers to track their adaptation into the wild. The releasing ceremony was also attended by the director of the Sinite kamani Nature Park and the district governor of Sliven.

Read more >>

Red kite reintroduced to Tuscany

02 August 2011The LIFE project, ‘Save the Flyers’ (LIFE08 NAT/IT/000332), has successfully reintroduced red kites (milvus milvus) in Tuscany. The programme, which was carried out by the local administration Comunità Montana Amiata Grossetano, entailed relocating 64 individuals from Corsica and the Canton of Fribourg (Switzerland) into the Upper Albegna Valley, southern Tuscany.

The release area, located in the southernmost part of the SCI and SPA “Monte Labbro e Alta Valle dell’Albegna”, is a hilly landscape with a mixture of woodlands, pastures and arable lands, and is crossed by the Albegna river; it’s a very suitable habitat for red kites, offering feeding opportunities and nesting sites, as proved by a feasibility plan drawn up in 2006 and updated in 2010.

Read more >>

Web users witness first online birth of a Cory's Shearwater chick

29 July 2011The LIFE project "Safe Islands for Seabirds" (LIFE07 NAT/P/000649) has achieved a world first. For the first time ever, Internet users have been able to witness the hatching of an egg of the endangered bird species, Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea).

As part of the LIFE project, a webcam was set up in May at a nesting site on the small island of Corvo in the Azores archipelago to provide live, round-the-clock coverage on a dedicated website  during the breeding season. Internet users have been able to follow the progress of a Cory's shearwater egg from the moment it was laid on 01 June, culminating in the hatching of the egg on 24 July. The birth of the chick has been widely covered in the Portuguese media.

Read more >>

LIFE Environment conference points the way forward

28 July 2011The LIFE conference – LIFE for Environment: Success Stories and Future Challenges – which was held in Brussels, 25-26 May of this year, provided an opportunity for stakeholders of the programme and decision-makers in the EU institutions to discuss the future of the LIFE programme at a time when EU budgets for the years to come are being determined.

The conference resulted in several key recommendations, including retaining the bottom-up approach to project selection through calls for proposals.

Read more >>

PRIME beach campaign on Posidonia management

27 July 2011The PRIME project – ‘Posidonia Residues Integrated Management for Eco-sustainability’ (LIFE09 ENV/IT/000061) –  which is aiming to develop the reuse of Neptune grass/Mediterranean tapeweed (Posidonia oceanica) residues, is organising a special summer beach campaign.

It is holding awareness raising campaigns for the general public on beaches in the Region of Puglia. Visitors are invited to learn about the management of beached Neptune grass and gadgets related to the project are being handed out.

Read more >>

Commission to provide €244 million for 183 new LIFE+ projects

19 July 2011The European Commission has approved funding for 183 new projects under the fourth call for the LIFE+ programme (2007-2013). The projects are from across the EU and cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, environmental policy, and information and communication. Overall, they represent a total investment of €530 million, of which the EU will provide €244million.

Read the full press release and a summary of the project by country.

Read more >>

Biofuel LIFE project wins Greek innovation prize

11 July 2011The Greek BIOFUELS-2G (LIFE08 ENV/GR/000569) project, which demonstrated an innovative technology of producing biodiesel-2G, won second prize at ‘Greece Innovates’, a competition organised by Eurobank and the Hellenic Bureau of Industry.
The organisers singled out the project for special commendation among 300 proposals at an awards ceremony held on 5 July and attended by around 1500. ‘Greece Innovates’ aims to promote applied research products and services that contribute to improving daily life, sustainable development and strengthening the economy.

Read more >>

New publication! LIFE preventing species extinction: Safeguarding endangered flora and fauna through ex-situ conservation

04 July 2011Most LIFE Nature projects focus on conservation action 'in-situ', i.e. within the natural habitat of a particular threatened species. This may not be enough to help the most vulnerable species, however, in which case 'ex-situ' conservation measures are required to address the threat of extinction.

The LIFE programme has a distinguished track record of funding crucial ex-situ interventions targeting a wide range of vulnerable species, ranging from flagship species such as the brown bear and golden eagle, to lesser-known but equally important fish, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and plants. LIFE-funded actions to support habitats ex-situ have contributed to enhancing biodiversity, supporting the EU's policy goals.

Read more >>

British weather can't dampen LIFE Platform Meeting

21 June 2011The latest LIFE Platform Meeting – on terrestrial invertebrates – took place last week in Newquay, Cornwall (UK). The two-day meeting (June 15-16) provided an opportunity for members of the LIFE Nature unit, project beneficiaries and other experts in invertebrate conservation to discuss  some of the key issues regarding the conservation of these species. As well as sharing the experience of completed and ongoing LIFE projects, attendees considered how the LIFE programme can continue to support projects that enhance the conservation status of terrestrial invertebrates, an important and often overlooked area of nature conservancy.

Read more >>

LIFE celebrates another year of success

31 May 2011The LIFE family came together in Brussels last Thursday – 25 May – for the LIFE Nature and LIFE Environment Awards 2010, a celebration of the 'Best' and the 'Best of the Best' projects co-funded by the LIFE programme that were completed in 2010.

Fittingly, the LIFE Nature Awards 2010 was held alongside the events of Green Week in the European Commission's Charlemagne Building: as Head of Unit – LIFE Nature, Angelo Salsi, reminded the audience, Green Week was inspired by the “LIFE Week” events of 1999, another example of the demonstration value of LIFE.

Read more >>

Environment: major support for continued specific EU funding tool for the environment and climate action

31 May 2011 Close to 85.8% of respondents to a recent public consultation on the future of LIFE+, the European Commission's environmental funding tool, consider that there is a need for a specific EU financial instrument for environment and climate action. A majority of 54.6% also think that the budget for the instrument should be increased. In the run-up to the next multiannual financial framework 2014-2020, the results of this consultation will feed into an evaluation of the need for a specific environmental and climate action programme in the EU's budget.

As part of ongoing reflections on a financial successor for LIFE+, stakeholders have been widely consulted over the past months.

Read more >>

PISCES film released

30 May 2011The PISCES LIFE project has produced a promotional film that explains how the project will be a powerful mechanism for change in the Celtic Sea. 

The film highlights the competing interests of users of the sea and the impacts of their actions. It presents the benefits of communication among PISCES stakeholders, the production of a code of conduct and the drawing up of guidelines for how the whole ecosystem can be managed in the future.

The film is the first in a series of “Reflections on Change” videos, which will be showcased at the June workshop in Brittany. The films will be available afterwards to view on the project website.

Read more >>

Visit to Biomares project spreads message

24 May 2011The European Journalism Centre recently organised a four-day visit to the Biomares LIFE project in Portugal. The winners of the TH!NK5:Water, an international blogging competition, as well as journalists and photographers had the opportunity to learn about the project, which is aiming to restore the biodiversity of the Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park inside the Arrábida Natural Park.

Biomares is also demonstrating how to combine nautical recreational activities with the conservation of  EU protected habitats, ‘reefs’ and ‘sandbanks permanently underwater in shallow seawaters’.

Read more >>