The Secretary of State for the Environment, Federico Ramos, today chaired the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, in which he took stock of the Foundation’s activity in 2014, a year in which they have developed 350 nature conservation projects. The meeting also approved the integration of the Spanish Aquaculture Observatory Foundation (OESA) into the Biodiversity Foundation, as well as the Management Report for the second half of 2014, a period in which projects have been completed and important initiatives for upcoming implementation have been finalized.
 
Among the most relevant actions carried out this semester is the execution of the 36 projects of the Empleaverde Programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund, and the execution and completion of the 28 beneficiary projects of the call for grants to carry out actions aimed at protecting marine biodiversity, co-financed by the European Fisheries Fund.

Likewise, in the context of the LIFE projects developed by the Foundation and co-financed by the European Commission, new results have been obtained, such as the release of the first specimens of capercaillie from the captive breeding programme (LIFE+ Capercaillie), or the analysis of 5,000 kilometres of river with the presence of desman, in Extremadura and Castilla y León. Finally, the LIFE+ Indemares project for the creation and consolidation of the marine Natura 2000 Network is entering its final stretch.
 
In the area of green economy and employment, the awards corresponding to the 2nd Edition of the Red Emprendeverde Awards have been presented. These awards have had 265 candidates, 35 pre-finalists and 14 winners. This semester the network has exceeded 6,470 members, with the incorporation of 1,094 since June 2014 (an increase of 20.35%).
 
Regarding the actions undertaken to lay the foundations for future projects, the presentation of two LIFE projects as coordinator and four proposals for European projects as partners stands out.
 
Among them, the project “Innovative Management of the Natura Network in the Sea” (INTEMARES) presented to the LIFE 2014 call and with an amount of 20 million euros. In the identification of this project, an innovative process of open participation has been carried out in which 116 contributions have been received from 49 entities and 27 letters of support.
 
In addition, in this last semester, the Biodiversity Foundation has continued with the process of constituting itself as an Intermediate Management Body for the period 2014-2020 for both the European Social Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
 
At the meeting of the Board of Trustees held today, the merger by absorption of the Spanish Aquaculture Observatory Foundation (OESA) with the Biodiversity Foundation was approved, as part of the agreement approved by the Council of Ministers on 20 October 2013 in which measures were adopted to rationalise and restructure the state, public foundation and business sector. The scope of action of the OESA Foundation focuses on the monitoring and analysis of aquaculture activity that is carried out at national and international level. Its tasks also include the transfer of activities linked to R+D+i to the productive sectors and society or the preparation of specific studies and works, as is the case of the Strategic Plan for Spanish Aquaculture on which it is currently working.