2016 Award Ceremony

Commissioner Vella and members of the high level jury revealed the winners of the 2016 Natura 2000 Award.

“I am once again honoured to be here tonight to recognise the fantastic work undertaken by the winners and all of the finalists in preserving our common natural heritage" said the Commissioner. "These initiatives have gone a long way towards ensuring that nature’s benefits keep flowing for many years to come. This year, over 37 000 people cast a vote for their favourite project to win the EU Citizens’ Award, which is a 50 % increase from last year. This goes to show just how important these awards are for increasing awareness about Europe-wide efforts to promote biodiversity.”

 

 

And the winners are:

Conservation

Demonstrating success in blanket bog restoration at the RSPB / United Utilities partnership - United Kingdom [find out more]

Communication

Nature Concerthall - Latvia [find out more]

Reconciling interests/perceptions

Creating green corridors for biodiversity under high-tension lines - Belgium and France [find out more]

Socio-economic benefits

For the Balkans and the People: Nature Protection and Sustainable Rural Development - Bulgaria [find out more]

Cross-border cooperation and Networking

Europe’s rarest waterbird benefits from a team effort in conservation - Bulgaria, Greece, Finland, Hungary and Norway [find out more]

Citizens' Award

Collaboration between Public and Private Bodies saves the Iberian lynx from extinction - Spain [find out more ]

The Ceremony was a vibrant event, with over 250 participants including representatives of all the finalists, jury members, evaluators, members of the press, EC representatives, EU-wide environmental NGOs, national/regional environmental NGOs, institutes and universities, and permanent representatives of the EU Member States and Regions.

A video of the ceremony can be watched here and photographs of the event can be found here.