Europe: The European Commission, on Friday, publicized the re-introduction of the wild forest reindeer back into their native habitat in two Natura2000 sites located in Finland. The Commission stated that the European-funded LIFE programme project: ‘WildForestReindeer LIFE’ has made the retrieval of species in their native habitat a reality.
Additionally, the European Commission has expressed its intent to invest more than 380 million Euros across all the European Union member countries in 168 new nature, climate, environment and clean energy transition projects within the framework of the LIFE programme.
As the Commission noted,” Restoring the balance with nature is an essential step to becoming a resource-efficient, competitive, and climate-neutral economy.”
Earlier in 2021, the European Commission invested more than €290 million in 132 new nature and climate action LIFE programme projects.
ABOUT NATURA2000:
Natura 2000 is a European network of protected nature areas where certain species of animal and their natural habitats are protected in order to preserve biodiversity. It stretches across all 27 EU countries, both on land and at sea, forming the largest network of protected areas in the world.
In 30 Years, Natura2000 has protected 18% of the EU’s land area, which is as big as Spain and Romania and 9% of the sea for the protection of biodiversity. The Natura2000 sites protect more than 1900 species of plants and animals and store about 35 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide, which is highly beneficial for the environment.
Furthermore, it provides employment to approximately 100,000 individuals. The European Commission further plans to extend the protection to 30% of the EU’s land and sea and 10% of areas as strictly prohibited.
The European Union aims to halt the loss of biodiversity throughout its territory. One of the most important means to achieve this goal is the Natura 2000 network.
LIFE Project:
The LIFE programme -(French: L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement), is one of the funding instruments of the European Union for environment and climate mitigation practices.Â
The LIFE project aims to implement, update and develop the European Union’s environmental and climate policy and legislation by co-financing projects with European added value.
The project commenced in 1992, and so far, there have been five phases of the programme, during which about 4600 projects were co-financed under the project, with an expenditure of 6.5 billion Euros for the protection of the environment and climate.
