We are celebrating our 20th anniversary by highlighting the wealth and natural capital of Spain, the country with the greatest biodiversity in the European Union. In an event held at our new headquarters in Madrid, built according to sustainability and energy efficiency criteria, and chaired by the president of the Biodiversity Foundation and Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera,  Conservation success stories have been highlighted over the last 20 years, such as the Iberian imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx.

We are the only state-owned public foundation dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity, we are the main donor entity to projects in this area in our country and we execute projects directly. Since our creation in 1998 we have supported nearly 2,000 projects and more than 1,000 entities with more than 230 million euros for projects.

The conservation projects that we manage directly are co-financed by European funds. During these 20 years we have  coordinated or managed 11 European projects that have attracted 77 million euros for the conservation of biodiversity in our country. Currently, we coordinate the largest marine conservation project in Europe, LIFE Intemares, endowed with 50 million euros, and which has already managed to comply with international commitments to protect more than 10% of our marine area, with our country currently having almost 13%.

In these 20 years, we have worked with about 200 species. Thanks to this work, the conservation status of such emblematic species in Spain as the Iberian lynx, the brown bear, the imperial eagle, the loggerhead turtle or the posidonia oceanica has been improved. We have also supported the recovery, reintroduction or captive reproduction of more than 15 species such as the black vulture, the bearded vulture, the red kite, the Bonelli’s eagle or the European mink.

Thanks to our calls for grants, we have collaborated with NGOs, associations and foundations, the academic sector, research centres, the media, public administrations and companies, as well as with 40% of the existing universities in Spain.

We impose green employment and entrepreneurship in Spain through the Empleaverde Programme, co-financed by the European Social Fund. Endowed with 68 million euros, its objective is to support more than 300 projects that promote a more sustainable, circular and low-emission economy. From 2017 to 2023, it is expected to have contributed to the creation of 4,800 jobs and the training of 24,000 people, in addition to supporting 3,000 companies. It also has the largest community in the green entrepreneurship ecosystem in Spain, the Red emprendeverde, with more than 8,700 members. 

In terms of fisheries, we work on the integration of fisheries and aquaculture management policies, the conservation of biodiversity within the framework of the Pleamar Programme, co-financed with the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. It has a budget of 30 million euros and aims to support, until 2023, more than 200 projects that contribute to the protection and recovery of marine biodiversity, to the practice of more sustainable fishing and aquaculture activities and to the strengthening of the management of these activities in marine protected areas.

Do you want to know more about the projects of calls for grants?

You can follow our profiles of Twitter and Facebook, where we inform you of all the news and actions. And on our website you can find out about the projects we support through calls for grants, in terms of  terrestrial biodiversity, marine and coastal biodiversity, and adaptation to climate change.