The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, and the secretary general of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Gabriel Álvarez, and the mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Patxi Lazcoz, presented today in this city a project to increase biodiversity in the Salburua wetlands.

The project, called “Inbios. Increase in biodiversity in the Salburua wetlands” and by the Center for Environmental Studies of the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz, 199,275 euros will be allocated. The objective is the protection of the populations of endangered species in the Salburua wetlands, one of the parks that make up the Green Belt of the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Among the threatened species, insects such as the beetles Luxacanus cervus and Rosalia alpina or lepidoptera such as the Coenagrion mercuriale or the Euphydryas aurinea, fish such as the madrilla (Chondrostoma miegii) and the bermejuela (Chondrostoma arcasii), 5 species of amphibians, 4 of reptiles, 69 of birds and 14 of mammals stand out.

The actions will seek to improve the populations of endangered species and their habitats, through the construction of shelters, the placement of nest boxes, the restoration of wetlands, the creation of artificial nesting islands or to facilitate reproduction, with the placement of calls and cymbels. In addition, actions are also planned to combat invasive exotic fauna species, such as carp (Cyprinus carpio) or gambusia (Gambusia holbrokii), American red crab (Procambarus clarkii) and Florida pond turtle (Trachemys scripta). Dissemination and awareness-raising campaigns on the subject are also planned.

This project was one of the best valued in the “I Competition of projects for the increase of biodiversity”, promoted by the Biodiversity Foundation and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, FEMP, whose purpose is to finance actions that harmonize conservation and sustainability policies to increase biodiversity.

The Competition was addressed to City Councils, Provincial Councils, Island Councils and Island Councils belonging to the FEMP and, in turn, members of the Network of Local Governments + Biodiversity 2010. This Network, which is a Section of the FEMP, has the mission of promoting local policies for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, the conservation of natural heritage and the promotion of rural development with sustainability criteria.

The “I Competition for projects for the increase of Biodiversity” is part of the agreements signed between the Biodiversity Foundation, the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. Thus, the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, and the FEMP signed an agreement for the implementation of a Common Strategy for the Preservation of Biodiversity, with the aim of promoting precise actions for the balanced integration of social, economic and environmental factors aimed at achieving a sustainable use of resources and the preservation of biodiversity in the field of Local Administrations.

For their part, the Biodiversity Foundation and the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces, FEMP, signed a collaboration agreement for the creation of the Network of Local Governments + Biodiversity 2010 and the implementation of the competition for incentives to increase biodiversity among the members of the Network.