The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, chaired the second meeting of 2013 of the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation, which was held at the Ministry’s headquarters.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, chaired the second meeting of 2013 of the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation, which was held at the Ministry’s headquarters.

During the meeting, the projects promoted by the Foundation throughout 2013 were evaluated and the main ones to be developed next year were studied.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has promoted the conservation of biodiversity and green employment thanks to the grants granted to 225 projects. In total, 4 calls for aid have been resolved throughout this year to which more than 1,400 projects have been submitted.

In 2013, the Biodiversity Foundation has also committed to green employment through 90 projects approved in the call for the Empleaverde Programme, with an endowment of almost 8.1 million euros. On the other hand, 3.1 million will be allocated to the promotion of employment among young people under 30 years of age through a call that will remain open until January 20, 2014.

The Emprendeverde Network, which already has more than 4,400 members (28% more than in 2012), has held 5 entrepreneurship meetings and 2 investment forums throughout this year. The objective of the Network is to promote the creation and consolidation of companies or new lines of activity linked to the environment, as well as to channel investment towards sustainable entrepreneurship.

Likewise, the Biodiversity Foundation has launched the Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative (IEEB), of which 16 large companies are already part through the Pact for Biodiversity, which recognizes and supports the three objectives of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity: to promote the conservation of biodiversity; the sustainable use of its components; The objective of the IEEB is to include the conservation and management of biodiversity in the business strategies of the different business sectors of the Spanish economy, offering a way to identify opportunities and alternative and innovative projects.

The “Conservation Actions on the Coast” programme, made up of the “Responsible Beach Bars Awards” and the “Beaches, Volunteering and Land Stewardship” Programme, and in which 5,600 volunteers and more than 500 beach bars have collaborated, seeks to join forces for the improvement and conservation of the coastline in Spain. In addition, the “Responsible Beach Bars” initiative has been selected by the Marlisco programme (a European project developed in 15 European countries) as one of the 10 best European proposals to reduce waste in the coastal and marine environment.

Finally, with regard to LIFE+ projects, 8 days of participation of the LIFE+ INDEMARES program have been held with social agents and the fishing sector. The objective of this project is to contribute to the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity in Spanish seas by identifying areas of value for the Natura 2000 Network. In this sense, most of the scientific information on all the areas of the project is already available, which will be declared throughout 2014.

For their part, the LIFE+ Capercaillie and Desmania programmes, which aim to halt the declines of these endangered species, have made significant progress in the studies carried out and the management measures initiated. Likewise, 2013 has been the year of presentation of the first document of the Priority Action Framework for the financing of the Natura 2000 Network to the European Commission and the public participation process for its improvement, also carried out with the co-financing of a LIFE project.

Also the presentation of the Platform for the exchange and consultation of information on adaptation to climate change, AdapteCCa, a tool at the service of all those experts, organizations, institutions and agents interested in accessing and exchanging information, knowledge and experiences on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, as well as an instrument to enhance communication between all of them.