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, participated, today, in Santander, in the inauguration of the “Conference on the presentation of the Local Strategy and Systems of Indicators for the Conservation and Increase of Biodiversity”. He did so together with the mayor of Santander and vice-president of the Network of Local Governments + Biodiversity 2010, Iñigo de la Serna Hernaiz; the president of the Network, Felipe López García, and the secretary general of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), Gabriel Álvarez Fernández.

Within the framework of the meeting, which will take place until tomorrow in Santander, the methodology for the implementation of the Strategy at the local level, the value of networking and biodiversity in the peri-urban area will be discussed. Experiences of work in defence of natural heritage and the sustainable development of rural areas will be exchanged. There will also be a space dedicated to national and international policies for the preservation and recovery of biodiversity.

Since its creation, ten years ago, the Biodiversity Foundation has promoted all projects that promote social participation in the field of the protection of natural spaces, the increase of biodiversity and the revitalization of the rural sector, as well as the increasing involvement of Local Administrations in the environmental restoration of their environment.

In particular, the antecedents of this collaboration with the FEMP date back to 2006, when the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, and the Federation 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 factors. economic and environmental measures aimed at achieving a sustainable use of resources and the preservation of biodiversity within the scope of Local Administrations.

For their part, the Biodiversity Foundation and the FEMP agreed on 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, as well as the development of a support tool aimed at Local Governments to facilitate the task of planning conservation actions in their territories.

The first edition of the “Competition for Projects to Increase Biodiversity” has been promoted by the Biodiversity Foundation and the FEMP, with the aim of financing actions that harmonize conservation and sustainability policies to increase biodiversity. In particular, the aim is to promote the conservation of biodiversity in rural areas.

The Contest, whose bases for the second call will be announced during these Conferences, is aimed at 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 Local Strategy presented at these Conferences will be a useful tool for Local Governments, as it provides methodologies for measuring biodiversity at the local level, contains an analysis of habitats, and provides guidelines for improving agricultural and tourism activities, water management and other natural resources.