Bulgarian conference on reintroduction of conservation-reliant species, Sofia

The First National Conference on the Reintroduction of Conservation-Reliant Species will be held at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski in Bulgaria on 18-20 November. The event is being jointly organised by the university's biology faculty and two LIFE beneficiaries - the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna and Green Balkans.

It will focus on reintroduction projects currently being carried out in Bulgaria and aim to demonstrate best practice in the restoration of rare and endangered species. For example, the reintroduction of the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) to Bulgaria has involved a range of actions including transporting birds to the country, providing an acclimatisation period, regular feeding inside and outside of aviaries, and releasing and monitoring the birds, as well as various activities to tackle threats, such as poisoning, hunting and electrocution.

The results so far of several LIFE projects will be presented at the conference: LIFE FOR KRESNA GORGE (LIFE11 NAT/BG/000363), VULTURES' RETURN (LIFE08 NAT/BG/000278), Lesser Kestrel Recovery (LIFE11 NAT/BG/000360) and LIFE FREE FISH (LIFE12 NAT/BG/001011).

Further information about the event is available on the LIFE FOR KRESNA GORGE project website.

Final conference of Italian connectivity project

19-20 November, Varese (Italy)

The LIFE project ‘TIB - TRANS INSUBRIA BIONET’ (LIFE10 NAT/IT/000241) is holding a three-part conference in several locations in the northern Italian town of Varese.

The LIFE project aimed to increase the functionality of the ecological corridor between Campo dei Fiori and the Ticino River Park, an area covering some 15 000 ha and including 14 Natura 2000 network sites. It aimed to achieve this goal by improving environmental quality and tackling problems related to the crossing of artificial barriers.

The first event will be the first showing of the documentary, ‘Vive solo chi si muove! (He is living alone who moves), which was produced by the LIFE project. At the screening at 6.30 pm on 19 November at the Sala FilmStudio90, Via C. de Cristoforis 5, the director of the film, Marco Tessaro, will be introduced. The documentary highlights the challenges of connecting green infrastructure and creating ecological corridors from the Alps to the Mediterranean.

The project’s final conference will then follow on the morning of 20 November at Sala Convegni, Villa Recalcati - sede Provincia di Varese, piazza Libertà 1. The conference will include presentations by representatives of the Lombardy region and the province of Verase as well as Lipu-BirdLife Italia.

The event will close with a panel discussion on ‘Why biodiversity: Communicating environment in the era of hyper-information’, which will take place at the Salone Estense, sede Comune di Varese, Via Sacco 5 at 4pm. The discussion will focus on how to communicate effectively with non-experts. It will be moderated by Danilo Selvaggi, the director general of Lipu-BirdLife Italia. All participants will receive a free copy of the project publication, ‘LIFE TIB - Un corridoio ecologico tra Pianura Padana e Alpi’.

Attendance is free. To register, visit the project website

River management and connectivity seminar

19-20 November, Liérganes, Spain

The LIFE Nature project MIERA (LIFE13/NAT/ES/899) is holding a seminar on management and connectivity of rivers at the Ecomuseo-Fluviarium of Liérganes in Cantabria, Spain, on 19-20 November 2015. The seminar will feature a presentation on the conservation measures being carried out on the river Miera in Cantabria, the focus of the LIFE project.

The two-day seminar is aimed at professionals, managers and the general public and will cover management tools, fluvial connectivity for salmonid migrators and land stewardship as a management tool in collaboration with local populations. The second day includes a visit to the Rogolo dam.

The MIERA LIFE project was set up to adopt a basin management approach to the recovery of habitat types and species populations of Community interest along the entire length of the Miera River.

It is being carried out by Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre in cooperation with Consejería de Universidades e Innovación, Medio Ambiente y Política Social del Gobierno de Cantabria and MARE (Medio Ambiente, Residuos y Energía).

Located in northern Spain, the Miera River runs 41 km from the Cantabrian Mountains to the Bay of Biscay, playing a significant role as an ecological corridor. Natura 2000 sites are located all along its course, and targeted habitats include sphagnum acid bogs, riparian forests, montane forests, coastal sand dunes, dry Atlantic coastal heaths and estuaries.

For more information about the project and the seminar, please visit www.lifemiera.org

To register for the event, e-mail lifemiera@mare.es

European Week for Waste Reduction

21-29 November 2015, locations across the EU

The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) is a high-profile, annual initiative to promote awareness about sustainable resource and waste management. It consists of a series of activities taking place in Europe during a single week. The EWWR website provides all the details about the week’s happenings, as well as information about how to get involved. The 2015 edition focuses on the concept of Dematerialisation: doing more with less.

The objective of the EWWR is to moblise a wide range of audiences, namely public authorities, private companies, civil society organisations and citizens. The week actively promotes waste reduction, product reuse and material recycling strategies in line with related European Union waste policy.

The European Week for Waste Reduction was launched in 2009 by the LIFE project, EWWR (LIFE07 INF/F/000185). A follow-up project, EWWR+ (LIFE12 INF/BE/000459) continues to manage the event and has broadened its outreach to include waste prevention, as well as developing best practices and other communication tools for target audiences.

Workshop on Protecting Seabirds in the Mediterranean

23-25 November 2015, Gozo, Malta

The Malta Seabird Project (LIFE10 NAT/MT/000090) is holding an international workshop on ‘Protecting Seabirds in the Mediterranean: Advancing the Marine Protected Area Network’. The event, which will held at the Ta’ Cenc Hotel on the island of Gozo (Malta) 23-25 November, is being organised in partnership with the RSPB (UK), SPEA (Portugal) and the Maltese Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC).

The workshop will start with a presentation of a draft inventory of Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Maltese waters. The completion of this inventory is one of the main aims of the Malta Seabird Project. The project, which is coordinated by BirdLife Malta, is identifying marine IBAs for three important procellariform seabird species, so that they can be designated as marine Special Protected Areas (SPAs) within the Natura 2000 network. Further information can be found on the project’s website.

The event also includes presentations and discussions on the need to protect international waters, the main threats to seabirds in the Mediterranean, conservation priorities and policy mechanisms, fieldwork and modelling methodologies, knowledge-sharing and international cooperation.

For further information and to register for the workshop visit: https://maltaseabirdproject.wordpress.com/workshop/

You can also register your attendance by email: seabirdworkshop@gmail.com

IRRIGESTLIFE to hold conference on irrigation management

24 November 2015, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

The LIFE project IRRIGESTLIFE (LIFE11 ENV/ES/000615) will hold a conference entitled ‘Innovation in Irrigation Management’ on 24 November in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

The event will be an opportunity to present the results of the LIFE project and to showcase the latest developments in the use of smart technologies for irrigation management of green areas and crops in Spain. A field visit in the afternoon will allow attendees to see the project's innovative smart irrigation system in action.

The 'Gestdropper' smart irrigation system was developed during the project, using free software and components available on the market. It has made the irrigation process in Vitoria-Gasteiz much more efficient: more than 30% of water was saved during the last irrigation period on 117 ha of parks and gardens in the city. Sensors captured the climate parameters and thus determined the real water needs of Vitoria-Gasteiz's parks and gardens. Closer control of damage and breakdowns in the irrigation infrastructure could allow for even greater water savings in future.

For further information and to register for the event, visit the project website

LIFE DEPOTEC workshop on waste tyres recycling

25 November 2015, Thurles, Ireland

The LIFE project DEPOTEC (LIFE10 ENV/IE/000695) will hold its end-of-project workshop dedicated to tyre recycling and pyrolysis on 25 November 2015 in Thurles.

The full-day event, chaired by Dr Eamon McKeogh of University College Cork and Prof Anastasia Zabaniotou of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will bring together expert speakers in the to give talks on a range of subjects, including:

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  the current situation of end-of-life (EOL) tyres in Ireland and the DEPOTEC project;
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  carboneous solid products issued from tyre pyrolysis;
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  pyrolysis of tyre rubber for solids and fuels;
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  challenges of modern pyrolysis technology; and
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  the LIFE programme and waste-to-energy projects.

Following the presentations and discussions there will be a demonstration visit to the DEPOTEC pilot pyrolysis plant.

Europe produces some 3.2 million tonnes of waste tyres per year. The properties that make rubber tyres desirable as a consumer product, such as durability, heat resistance and traction, also make their disposal and reprocessing difficult. The DEPOTEC project proposes a depolymerisation process adding value to the waste tyres by producing products that can substitute emission-intensive carbon filler materials in the rubber manufacturing process. It will also offer an alternative to burning EOL tyres to produce tyre-derived fuel.

Further information is available on the project website.