Azores Regional Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development met in Terceira island

March 28, 2023

The Regional Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change, Alonso Miguel, chaired last Friday in Angra do Heroísmo, the first meeting of 2023 of the Regional Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CRADS).

Alonso Miguel stressed “the importance of this consultative body for the decision-making of the Regional Government of the Azores and the implementation of public policies in the various environmental areas”.

Within the scope of this meeting, a proposal was presented to the councillors for the creation of the “Nature’s Friend” programme that, according to Alonso Miguel, “aims to create partnerships and establish new projects, to promote the Region’s natural values, including Nature Custody Agreements, providing counterparts for the partner entities, namely discounts on entry fees on the Region’s Environmental interpretation Centres”.

“Aimed at public and private entities, with or without profit, that develop their activity in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the programme seeks to support the promotion, organization and monitoring of the performance of the regional tourism offer, at the level of nature tourism, as well as recognising public and private entities that implement good environmental practices, with the attribution of the status and respective seal”, added the governor.

The Regional Secretary also presented the proposal for the Regional Legislative Decree to revise the Legal Regime for Environmental Impact Assessment and Licensing currently in force.

Alonso Miguel stressed that “with this initiative, we intend to transpose into the regional legal system the Community Directives that have not been transposed to date, as well as to optimize and clarify procedures, based on the experience acquired by the Regional Secretariat that oversees the environment in the implementation of this legal regime over the past 12 years.

During the CRADS meeting, the proposal of the places to classify as harbours (class E harbours) in the Autonomous Region of the Azores was also presented, whose administration and management is now the responsibility of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change, as a result of the organic change that redirected these competencies.

On the agenda of this meeting, it should be highlighted the presentation to the councillors of a status report of six REACT-EU projects underway in the Region to be executed by the end of 2023.

Four of these projects aim to enable the Region to combat the effects of climate change, including the creation of the Roadmap for Carbon Neutrality of the Azores, the Project to Improve Knowledge of the Location and Conservation Status of Organic Soils and Peatbogs, the preparation of Risk Cartography for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change and also the implementation of Flood Alert Systems in four River Basins at Risk in the Region.

The other two projects underway focus on improving waste management in the Azores, namely the creation of the Regional Circular Economy Roadmap, as well as the Restructuring of Waste Processing Centres to carry out the composting process of selective collection of organics and production of quality compost on the islands of Flores, Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Santa Maria.

For Alonso Miguel, “these projects represent an important investment for the areas of mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change and waste prevention and management in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, in a paradigm shift towards a more circular economy, totalling an overall investment of about 13 million euros, fully funded by REACT-EU”.

During the meeting, it was also presented to the councillors an update regarding the implementation of ongoing LIFE projects in the Region. These are five projects aimed at nature conservation and mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change, with a total investment of around 45 million euros, namely LIFE IP AZORES NATURA, LIFE IP CLIMAZ, LIFE BEETLES, LIFE SNAILS and LIFE VIDALIA.

Alonso Miguel stressed that “the LIFE VIDALIA project ends already this year, with an excellent execution, and the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change will continue the implementation of its actions through the LIFE IP AZORES NATURA project”, adding that “the LIFE Programme represents a strategic operational and financial tool for the Region”, so it will continue to be a commitment of the Regional Government, and the design of new projects with relevance to the Azores is already being prepared.