The annual awards are given by the European Commission to innovative projects for the protection of nature, the environment and climate change.
According to an announcement from Frederick University, the Life-Kedros project, which adopted specific actions to maintain and enhance the resilience of the habitat where Cyprus cedars are found, was recently completed, with the Department of Forests as coordinator and the participation of Frederick University through the Nature Conservation Unit, as well as the Cyprus Forestry Association.
It is clarified that the project is competing for the LIFE Award, which is decided by a panel of experts, and the LIFE Citizens' Priz, which will be determined through an online public vote.
As mentioned, the Life-Kedros project was implemented between 2016 - 2021, with a total budget of €1,342,850, aiming at the integrated and sustainable management of the Cedrus brevifolia (i.e. Cyprus Cedar) forests located exclusively in the Paphos Forest and within the Natura 2000 network. This habitat is endemic as it is found only in Cyprus and nowhere else in the world.
In the framework of the Life-Kedros project, measures were taken to enhance the resilience of the cedar forest against climate change, to reduce the probability of its loss in case of fire, to restore and expand it and to enhance its natural regeneration. In addition, actions were implemented to inform and raise awareness among the public and the scientific community about the habitat and the Cedar of Cyprus, one of only four cedar species in the world.
"This is an innovative project of good practice, as management measures were designed and implemented based on the dynamics of nature itself and the ecological balance of the ecosystem", says the Project Manager, Dr. Nicolas-Giorgos Eliades, member of the research team of the Nature Conservation Unit of Frederick University.
It is also noted that Frederick University has participated in two other LIFE projects that have been honored in the past: These are PLANT-NET CY which aimed to improve the conservation status of four plant species and two priority habitat types in Cyprus and was selected as one of the thirteen best LIFE projects in Europe in 2013, and JUNIPERCY which aimed to promote the long-term conservation of native Juniperus forests in Cyprus and was selected as one of the five projects awarded in the Best Nature Projects category for the year 2015.
A total of twelve innovative projects that received funding from the EU's LIFE programme are competing for this year's LIFE awards. The award ceremony will take place during EU Green Week, between 30 May and 5 June 2022. The public can vote for the Life-Kedros project here: https:/www.lifeawards.eu/project/life-kedros/.
Source: CNA
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