Life+ Nature Guardians’ project from Spain and Portugal receives LIFE 2024 Citizen Award

During EU Green Week, the Commission announced the winners of this year’s LIFE Awards. The LIFE Awards recognise the most innovative, inspiring and effective projects funded by the EU’s LIFE Programme in three categories: nature protection, circular economy and quality of life, and climate action. Selected from LIFE projects across the EU, this year’s winners propose projects to rehabilitate rivers, produce animal feed from insect protein waste and plant trees to cool cities.

Following a public vote, the LIFE Citizens’ Prize was awarded to Life+ Nature Guardians, a project to combat environmental crime – such as waste dumping and wildlife culling – in Spain and Portugal.

The LIFE Nature Prize was awarded to LIFE Flusserlebnis Isar, which aims to rehabilitate the river Isar and the surrounding floodplains through a unique collaboration between the Bavarian water and nature authorities. LIFE Waste2Protein, winner of the LIFE Prize for Circular Economy and Quality of Life, tests innovative insect protein-based feeds produced from bio-waste as a sustainable alternative to soybean meal and fish. The LIFE Climate Action Prize was awarded to LIFE TreeCheck, for helping Central European cities fight climate change by using green infrastructure to minimise the urban heat island effect. The winners were selected by representatives of the European Environment Agency, the Committee of the Regions and civil society.

European Commission funds 171 new LIFE environment and climate projects

Finally, Freshabitats LIFE IP was chosen for a special category introduced in this year’s edition that recognises the vital and indispensable role of clean water in the lives of all Europeans.

More information: European Commission