LIFE & Natura 2000
LIFE Program
The LIFE Financial Instrument for the environment was established by the Council of the European Communities, considering the treaty establishing the European Economic Community and, in particular, Article 130º S thereof. The Treaty provides for the development and implementation of a Community environment policy, setting out the objectives and guiding principles of that policy.
Regarding the environment, the Treaty provides for Community intervention when it implies an improvement in the achievement of the objectives pursued, both at Community level and at the level of the Member States considered individually. The LIFE instrument was thus the result of a set of scenarios that showed it was appropriate to establish a unified financial instrument for the environment that would contribute to the development and implementation of the Community policy and legislation in the subject of environment, while respecting the polluter pay principles.
First phase
The first phase was established by Council Regulation (EEC) N° 1973/92 of May 21st 1992 in order to be completed by December 31st 1995, with defined intervention modalities according to which priority actions were set (up to 30th September of each year) to be carried out the following year. A Management Committee consisting of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the Commission was then set up to assist the Commission in the implementation of the Regulation and to establish the priorities in the areas of intervention of the programme to be considered for the following year(s). The DGQA (predecessor of the DGA, IA and now APA, IP) was the entity designated to join this Committee, together with a representative of the ICN (predecessor of the ICNB and currently ICNF). At this stage, the Committee worked together: Environment and Nature.
Second Phase
The second phase (1996-1999) was based on Regulation (EC) N° 1404/96 of July 15th. The application process remained identical, with two differences to be highlighted: one, related to the definition of the priorities that were no longer annual and were now established for the period in question; the other related to the functioning of the Management Committee which, due to the specificities of LIFE-Environment, started to operate separately from LIFE-Nature.
Third Phase
In the third phase (2000-2006), the process remained the same, with changes in the application forms, as well as in the priorities that in the two years of extension (2005-2006) were changed in order to be correlated with those of the 6th Community Environment Action Programme.
Fourth Phase
The fourth phase (2007-2013) instituted the designation LIFE+ and brought the separation of the program into three components: LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity; LIFE+ Environmental Policy and Governance; LIFE+ Information and Communication. For 2014-2020, the EC proposes to allocate €3.2 billion to the new LIFE Environment and Climate Action Programme. The proposed new regulation will build on the success of the existing LIFE+ Programme, but better structured, more strategic, simplified and more flexible. Emphasis will be placed on improving government strategies.
The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the Commission. The evaluation of projects is the responsibility of the European Commission and, although there are indicative national allocations, merit always prevails over all other criteria.
LIFE in Portugal
In Portugal, the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) is the coordinating entity at national level and is responsible for providing support to potential proponents in the preparation phase of applications, centralizing their reception and submitting them to the European Commission within the stipulated deadline.
APA also participates in the dissemination and promotion activities of the Program and works with the Institute for Nature and Forests Conservation for the "Nature and Biodiversity" component.
In Portugal, in 2012, 7 projects were approved, 6 of which were from the "Nature and Biodiversity" component and 1 from the "Environmental Policy and Governance" component, with a total community contribution of €7,403,382. In addition, 3 transnational projects in the "Environmental Policy and Governance" component, in partnerships with Spain and France, and 1 in the "Nature and Biodiversity" component, in partnership with Spain. These projects total a community contribution of around €404,182.
It should be noted that in Portugal, between 2007 and 2012, 26 projects were approved, 5 of which were in the "Environmental Policy and Governance" component, 18 in the "Nature and Biodiversity" component and 3 in the "Information and Communication" component, representing a total of 20.9 million euros of community contribution. In this period, 29 projects were also approved including Portuguese organizations, in partnership with other entities and whose applications were submitted by other countries. However, the amount of community contribution came out of the national allocation, previously established, according to the criteria contained in the Regulation. Of these, 18 projects were from the "Environmental Policy and Governance" component, 9 "Nature and Biodiversity" and 2 from the "Information and Communication" component. The amount of the Community contribution involved was €6.78 million.
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Natura 2000
The Natura 2000 is an ecological network for the European Union resulting from the application of Directives 79/409/EEC (Birds Directive) and 92/43/EEC (Habitats Directive) and aims to "contribute to ensuring biodiversity through the conservation of natural habitats, wild fauna and flora in the European territory of the Member States to which the Treaty applies".
This network is composed of: 1) Special Protection Areas (SPAs), established under the Birds Directive, which are essentially intended to ensure the conservation of bird species, and their habitats, and the conservation of migratory bird species whose occurrence is regular; and 2) Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), created under the Habitats Directive, with the express objective of "contributing to ensuring Biodiversity, through the conservation of natural habitats and the habitats of species of wild flora and fauna, considered threatened in the European Union".
The Natura 2000 is composed of areas of community importance for the conservation of certain habitats and species, in which human activities should be compatible with the preservation of these values, aiming at sustainable management from an ecological, economic and social point of view.
The implementation of the Natura 2000 is structured in 3 phases:
The Member State identifies a number of sites to be protected on the basis of the presence of habitats/species listed in the Habitats Directive, and in accordance with the scientific assessment of national conservation needs;
The Member States and the European Commission verify the information and consolidate the national lists of Sites of Community Importance (SCI): an SCI represents an intermediate stage in the approval of a Natura 2000 site, and contributes significantly to maintaining or restoring a type of natural habitat in a favourable conservation status and to ensure biological diversity in the concerned biogeographical regions.
Once all biogeographical lists of sites have been approved, the SCIs shall be designated as SCAs (Special Conservation Areas).