The Regional Director for the Environment, Frederico Cardigos, participated in a two-day seminar in Brussels to discuss the future of the LIFE + Project at the invitation of European Commission. This Programme funds projects of excellence that make a difference in the preservation of species and habitats in the classified sites under the Natura 2000 Network (Birds and Habitats Directives).

The previous version of the programme (LIFE I, II and III) and the current edition (LIFE +) have funded 1100 projects and promoted an investment of 1860 million Euros, of which 50% was subsidised by the European Commission. There are currently 350 ongoing LIFE + projects.

Nevertheless, it is estimated that it annually takes 6 billion to manage properly the areas classified by the European network, which requires use of agricultural and fisheries funds for the preservation of species, habitats, landscapes and environmental services.

According to the EU Commission, it is essential to finance the removal of invasive species and to combat climate change or, as the Director-General for Environment for the European Commission, Ladislav Miko, stated, it is necessary to preserve lesser known species, implement monitoring procedures in the long-term, create specialised teams in the field of biodiversity, promote scientific research and increase the allocation of support from other funding sources.

During the two-day meeting which was attended six hundred people from Europe, the Regional Director for the Environment of the Azores, urged for the reduction of bureaucracy, the increase of funds for the LIFE programme, even at the expense of other funding, and the creation of the “Biodiversity Manager” position.

For Frederico Cardigos, “the natural biodiversity of the islands are suffering an enormous pressure from invasive flora and the allocated funding is not sufficient to effectively combat this plague. According to data presented on these two days, the EU Commission spends 1.3 billion Euros in the support to the tobacco production and 6.7 billion Euros in the enhancement of agriculture. Regarding the protection of biodiversity, which is one of the priorities of the European Union, only 370 million Euros are directly allocated to this area. Hence, we must be imaginative, objective and act quickly.”

Furthermore, this session also included the presentation of the projects distinguished with the “Best of the Best – Nature” prize, which is awarded to the five best LIFE Nature projects. The “Azores Bullfinch LIFE” project is among the award-winning projects; it was created by the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds “Azores Bullfinch LIFE” in a partnership with the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and the Sea, the Regional Directorate for Forestry and the Nordeste Town Hall.