Blossoming Austria and Lower Austria celebrate the European Union’s NATURA 2000 Award
Austria (OTS) – Good news for nature conservation in Austria: The BILLA Foundation in Blooming Austria and its partner BirdLife Austria have won Europe’s most prestigious nature conservation prize, the “Natura 2000 Award” from the European Commission, for the first time. Blooming Austria prevailed against the 20 finalists in a European citizen vote and won the prestigious “Citizens’ Prize”. Blühendes Österreich has supported 50 partners in Lower Austria in nature conservation activities since 2015 with almost €1 million. The support helped conserve and improve highly endangered habitats in over 300 hectares of European protected areas. The following partners in Lower Austria were also honored with Blühenden Österreich:
- Landscape conservation association Thermenlinie-Wienerwald-Vienna Basin
- freeNature & Agriculture Fam. Watzl, St. Martin, Waldviertel
- Lanius – Research Association for Regional Faunistics and Applied Nature Conservation, Wachau
- World Heritage Communities Wachau
- Farmer Matthias Frank and Renate and Erich Frank
- Club Auring, Marchegg
To mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Natura 2000 network, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Seas, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius the winners of the fifth edition of the Natura 2000 Awards announced. In addition to Blühendes Austria, the other five winners come from Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Germany.
Martin SelmayrHead of the European Commission Representation in Austria, congratulates: “The European Union has set itself ambitious goals with the European ‘Green Deal’. The ‘Green Deal’ not only points the way to climate neutrality by 2050, but is also intended to make Europe a global leader in sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. Whether we achieve our goals is decided in the Member States and above all in the regions and in the municipalities. Projects like FLORA have an impact and make an important contribution to making our Europe more sustainable and fit for the future. On behalf of the European Commission, I warmly congratulate you on the Natura 2000 award.”
Gabor WichmanManaging Director of Birdlife Austria, co-founder of Blühendes Österreich and member of the board, points to the basis of the success, “That the long-term planning and strategic work of the foundation is the basis for the measurable impact of its nature conservation work. The EU Commission recognized this added value for the supported European protected areas and recognized it with the award.”
LH Deputy Dr. Stephen PernkopfState Councilor for Nature Conservation, is happy about the success: “I congratulate you on this European nature conservation award, which has been deservedly brought to Lower Austria. The award-winning project connects committed communities, farmers, associations and initiatives with the aim of protecting and improving the natural and cultural landscapes of our homeland. A goal that unites us all.”
Thanks to its cross-regional and cross-state activities, Blühendes Österreich has been able to achieve positive supra-regional habitat improvements and the protection of endangered biotopes, priority species and habitats such as dry grassland, semi-arid grassland, moor grass meadows, fallow grassland, arable land, ruderal areas, tall forbs, high grass areas and mountain meadows in Lower Austria. The measures focus on the protection of endangered and endemic species such as meadow breeders, insects, snails, vertebrates, orchid species in open country and in cultivated and agricultural landscapes.
The FLORA Competences in Lower Austria program includes a total of activities in 20 European protected areas. In the Natura 2000 areas of the Waldviertel, Wachau, Wienerwald-Thermenregion, western Weinviertel, Humid Plain and Steinfeld, new nature conservation initiatives and farms have been established through public-private partnerships. An intensive and varied mentoring program was able to set up the organizations freeNature (www.freenature.at) and landscape conservation association Thermenlinie-Wienerwald-Wiener Becken (www.landschaftspflegeverein.at) in Lower Austria through access to specific tools and contacts.
Andrea KoMayor of Perchtoldsdorf, is happy about the award: “Our community has been successfully active in nature conservation with clubs and the population for more than 20 years. Since 2018, together with the landscape conservation association supported by Blühenden Österreich, we have been able to achieve even more for the preservation of biological diversity in our region and climate protection in another alliance with currently 24 municipalities.”
Natura 2000 protected areas for diversity
The Natura 2000 network of protected areas was introduced by the EU and is intended to stop the loss of species and habitats and to permanently secure Europe’s natural habitats. The network is celebrating its 30th anniversary today and now covers 18 percent of Europe’s land area and nine percent of its sea areas. Natura 2000 is the largest network of protected areas in the world. The activities in the Natura 2000 protected areas not only protect endangered native plant and animal species, but also store 35 billion tons of CO2. Thus, the Natura 2000 network also makes a significant contribution to climate protection. The legal basis for Natura 2000 areas is provided by the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive and the Bird Protection Directive.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the Natura 2000 network in Austria comprises 350 areas, of which 272 are legally designated as European protected areas. The individual state governments nominate corresponding areas and report them to the EU Commission.
About the voting for the “Natura 2000 Awards”
The “Natura 2000 Award” was presented for the sixth time by the European Commission for outstanding achievements in relation to Natura 2000 activities. Until April 27, 2022, all Europeans were called upon to vote for the 21 European nature conservation projects in the final. The winner was awarded the “Citizens’ Prize”. The Blooming Austria Foundation was the only Austrian finalist with the FLORA program.
About blooming Austria
The BILLA Foundation Blooming Austria is committed to a healthy environment and sustainable ecological agriculture. Therefore, since 2015, Blooming Austria has been supporting around 230 farmers, nature conservation organizations, communities and other initiatives that protect our habitats, animals and plants through responsible agriculture and valuable environmental projects. 951 hectares of endangered biotope areas are already being specifically secured. The website bluehendesoesterreich.at is the strongest digital platform for nature tourism and nature content. The nature experience portal brings together 95 organizations with thousands of nature events each year. With 50,000 downloads and the associated desktop version, the citizen science app “Schmetterlinge Österreichs” is one of the largest nature observation apps in the German-speaking world. www.bluehendesoesterreich.at
Questions & contact:
dr Judith Terlizzi, Head of Communication Blossoming Austria,
+43 676 711 74 50, j.terlizzi@bluehendesoesterreich.at