- The management of the calls for aid framed in the Doñana and Mar Menor Action Frameworks will be a priority focus of intervention during 2026
- In turn, 2025 marks a milestone in the Foundation’s activity, with the completion of the more than 350 projects it has financed within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP).
- Over the next year, the transfer of knowledge and the results generated in these projects will be evaluated, settled, certified and promoted
The Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, chaired the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation on Wednesday, at which its Action Plan for 2026 was approved. Among the major milestones for next year, the Foundation will continue its contribution to the frameworks of actions for the restoration of wetlands in critical condition, with the implementation of the beneficiary projects of two new calls for aid, one to promote the renaturalisation of agricultural areas in Doñana, endowed with €28.5 million, and another to recover the ecological functionality of the Mar Menor through environmental improvement in livestock practices, with a budget of €11.5 million. Both calls are currently open and the deadline for submitting proposals will be 15 and 13 January, respectively. Likewise, for Doñana, one will be published to promote organic farming and rainfed crops for €8.5M and a second for the renaturation of agricultural land.
Another area of action for 2026 will be the promotion of the mechanisms and instruments necessary for the economic valorisation of forest ecosystem services, such as carbon capture and storage, the regulation of the water and sediment cycle or the protection of the soil against erosion. Likewise, the Foundation will continue to promote business commitment to the conservation and restoration of nature, with tools such as the Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative.
In relation to another priority area, the Foundation promotes the circular economy as a key tool to reduce pressure on natural resources, minimise waste and move towards a more sustainable production model. Through calls to promote the circular economy in different sectors, such as textiles and footwear, and plastics, it supports innovative and transformative projects that contribute to the ecological transition, and which start or will continue their implementation during this next year.
Also during the first months of 2026, initiatives will be launched linked to the call for subsidies for the implementation of projects that contribute to supporting employment and training through restoration and recovery actions in the municipalities affected by the DANA, with an endowment of €5 million. The deadline for applications to this call will remain open until December 29.
In addition, the Foundation will continue its contribution to the promotion of the bioeconomy through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with a call for grants endowed with €42.6 million, which is expected to be resolved in January. Through this same fund, the consolidation of green infrastructure in urban environments will be promoted with the development of 12 projects, the generation of knowledge for the protection and conservation of nature with 17 projects and the conservation and restoration of habitats and marine species through the approval of 8 new projects.
In 2026, a new impetus will be given to the promotion of the blue economy and green jobs through the resolution of the 2025 calls co-financed by the European Maritime Fund for Fisheries and Aquaculture (EMFAF) and the European Social Fund+ (ESF+). Thus, the call for aid from the Pleamar Programme, aimed at promoting the blue economy and promoting fisheries and aquaculture sustainability, endowed with €14.55 million, and the call for the Empleaverde+ Programme for the recruitment and improvement of skills for the ecological transition, endowed with €13.5 million, will be resolved.
Through these same funds, in 2026 106 projects will continue to be implemented to achieve the ecological transition and job creation in different economic sectors for an amount of €44.5 million.
On the other hand, two important LIFE projects coordinated by the Foundation end in 2026 with excellent results. Thanks to the actions carried out in more than 3,600 hectares of wetland within the framework of the LIFE Marbled Teal, this endangered species has reached a record number of breeding: 172 chicks, the best reproduction data since at least 1994. For its part, the actions carried out within the framework of LIFE INTEMARES have made it possible to move towards better management of the marine areas of the Natura 2000 Network, which has made it possible to reach 22.45% of the protected marine area, improve planning for the management of marine spaces and species, and involve more than 15,000 people and 2,000 entities in it. mitigate impacts on natural values and promote information, participation and training of managers and users of the marine environment.
MORE THAN 350 RTRP
PROJECTS COMPLETEDThe Board of Trustees has also approved the management report for the second half of 2025, which marks a milestone in the activity of the Biodiversity Foundation with the completion of a large part of the projects that are being financed under the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), co-financed by NextGenerationEU funds.
The Foundation published 13 calls for RTRP grants totalling an investment of 540 million euros. The more than 350 projects financed thanks to these calls have promoted fundamental transformations to solve serious structural problems related to sustainable development, the demographic challenge and climate change: actions in the field of bioeconomy, renaturalisation of cities and urban river sections, circular economy in companies, strandings and rescue of endangered species, or the promotion of research for biodiversity management. The first half of 2026 will be the time to evaluate, settle and certify the expenses generated by more than 700 entities and promote synergies between them and transfer the knowledge they have generated throughout the territory.
STRUCTURAL FUNDS AND PARTNERSHIPS
To give continuity to its lines of action, the Biodiversity Foundation has continued to establish itself as an instrument for mobilising and leveraging European funds such as ERDF, ESF+ and FEMPA, of which it is an intermediate management body, as well as funds from the LIFE and Horizon 2030 programmes, while articulating funds from the general State budget to promote priorities of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO).
In addition, to achieve this, it will continue to develop and consolidate strategic alliances and strengthen ties with different agents such as public administrations, companies, associations, foundations, NGOs, the academic sector or research centres.
