The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and the Environment announced today on Corvo that the Government of the Azores has decided to increase the funds for the "Eco-Village, Clean Village" programme, which surpass, for the first time, over half a million Euros.
 
"While in 2013, the programme budget was set at 325 thousand Euros, we will invest 600 thousand Euros in 2015," revealed Luís Neto Viveiros. The government official spoke at the delivery ceremony of the Excellence Awards of the Eco-Village 2015 contest. 
 
The Regional Secretary said that this year, in addition to the 20% increase compared to the initial amount, the Government will also deliver 35 maintenance kits to the best applications to the "My Stream" project, an investment of 600 thousand Euros.
 
Each of these kits includes a chain saw and a professional brushcutter bike and individual protective gear; its distribution is scheduled for the end of May.
 
Neto Viveiros stressed that "the My Stream project is one of the novelties of Eco-Village 2015, which involves the participation of 97 local authorities," including Corvo Town Hall.
 
"Clean Coast is another project launched this year, already registering 91 applications. It is primarily aimed to stimulate local authorities to mobilise populations for the monitoring and cleaning of coastal areas," emphasised the Regional Secretary.
 
In his speech, Neto Viveiros highlighted the commitment of the Corvo Town Hall to this program, stressing that the Regional Government's initiative "acknowledges the importance of Local Power in promoting the development of local communities and civic education of citizens."
 
Eco-Village is primarily intended to recognise and distinguish the efforts of these local authorities and the cooperation of the people in cleaning, removal and proper referral of waste disposed of in place places, including water lines and the coastline. Moreover, it aims to encourage participation in programmes and awareness actions in environmental education.
 
In 2013, the initiative involved 113 parishes, 145 in the following year and 148 in 2015. This year, 155 of the 156 villages existing in the archipelago jointed the project.
 
In order to mark the results of the 2015 contest, the Award of Excellence was delivered to 27 villages, whose ceremony took place on Corvo.       
 
The Excellence Awards were established for the first time in 2014 to distinguish, on each island, the villages, whose cleaning and maintenance efforts achieved the highest score in several evaluation criteria.
 
"This is also the due recognition of the role played by Local Power that we want to point out, here on the island of Corvo, with this simple delivery ceremony of Eco-Village Excellence Awards, but full of meaning. We also emphasise the importance of establishing stable and transparent relations with villages, always in pursuit of the public interest, "said Luís Neto Viveiros.