Brussels, 09/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 7 April, BirdLife International announced the launch of the biggest ever bird conservation project in Europe, co-financed by the European Union.
The three-year project is called LIFE Euro SAP (Species Action Plan). It covers 16 iconic wild birds crucial for European biodiversity, six of which are particularly endangered. Thirteen partner organisations in ten EU member states will be involved (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Sweden).
Ivan Ramirez, head of conservation for Europe and Central Asia at BirdLife International, commented: “Life Euro SAP marks the beginning of a new era for bird conservation in Europe. We are tackling bird conservation at a truly continental scale.”
LIFE Euro SAP aims to: - urgently update and revise six existing action plans for birds with continuous population decline and in need of coordinated conservation efforts at international level and develop two new plans for species of greatest urgency (the Yelkouan Shearwater and Monteiro's Storm-petrel) that are already on the latest red list drawn up by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN); - respond to a need expressed by the European Commission to develop, test and apply as methodology for multi-species action plans for a group of species, based on commonalities in their habitat needs; - create conditions for effective coordination among the European Commission, EU member states, and the international conventions and NGOs involved in international bird conservation efforts; - put in place a system for coordination among the main actors involved in the development and implementation of species action plans.
The project is to receive €500,000 in co-financing from the LIFE programme (preparatory projects) following a call for tender published by the Commission in 2014. It will help implement the requirements of two key items of EU nature protection legislation, viz. the Wild Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive. (Aminata Niang)