MAPAMA allocates two million euros to the conservation of terrestrial and marine biodiversity and to the co-financing of LIFE projects.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, has opened the deadline for submitting projects for its call for grants, on a competitive basis, for the implementation of activities in the field of terrestrial, marine and coastal biodiversity, and for the co-financing of projects approved by the European Commission. within the LIFE program.
The beneficiaries of these grants may be organisations that meet the requirements established in the regulatory bases of the call.
The call for the conservation of terrestrial, marine and coastal biodiversity has a maximum endowment of one million euros, of which 800,000 will be allocated to projects that are presented for the terrestrial biodiversity line, while 200,000 will be for those initiatives that do so within the framework of marine and coastal biodiversity.
The maximum amount that can be granted for each application cannot exceed 50,000 euros. In addition, it may not exceed 70% of the total budget presented. In the case of public sector entities, the maximum co-financing of projects is limited to 50%. As a general rule, beneficiary organisations will be able to implement their projects for a maximum period of one year.
The deadline for submitting applications to this call will remain open until June 30, 2017. Applicants for the grants must access the website of the Biodiversity Foundation (www.fundacion-biodiversidad.es) and complete the required documentation in accordance with the established models and formats.
CO-FINANCING OF LIFE PROJECTS
For its part, the endowment for the co-financing of LIFE projects will be one million euros. Each beneficiary may be granted a maximum of 200,000 euros, provided that the amount allocated does not exceed 90% of the budget provided by the entity for the development of the LIFE project, taking into account the amounts that have been granted to said entity in other calls for aid for said project.
The aid granted by the Biodiversity Foundation is compatible with other subsidies that come from public or private, national or international entities (with the exception of other European funds). However, in no case may the total amount of the subsidies awarded exceed the cost of the initiative provided for in the LIFE project budget.
Only those initiatives that are developed in Spain and belong to one of the LIFE programmes related to nature conservation, such as the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity, LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity, LIFE Environmental Governance and Information or LIFE+ Information and Communication programmes, may apply. In the latter case, the project must be focused on raising awareness and communicating about the protection of biodiversity. The deadline for submitting projects to this call is October 16, 2017.
In both calls, the Biodiversity Foundation will require the beneficiary entities to provide the necessary data to calculate the carbon footprint they have generated during the implementation of the project. This data will be used to know the impact of their actions and plan a more efficient management of projects, with the intention of reducing their environmental footprint.
