PRESS RELEASE – 7 June 2023- Directorate-General for Environment

Re-wilding forests with Eurasian lynx, boosting farming with hi-tech bio-stimulants and helping one of Europe’s biggest cities adapt to climate change are among the winning projects announced yesterday at the EU’s annual LIFE Awards.

The winning projects mark outstanding achievements in three categories: nature protection, the environment and climate action. In addition, the LIFE Citizens’ Prize – awarded by public vote – went to the LIFE TECMINE Project. This project aims to improve mine restoration activities in Mediterranean forest areas by testing innovative and highly transferable restoration techniques.

1. This years’ winners are: The LIFE Award for Nature: LIFE Luchs Pfälzerwald project on the reintroduction of Eurasian lynxes in the Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve. The project established a thriving population of lynx in southwest Germany, three centuries after they disappeared from the area.
2. The LIFE Award for Environment: LIFE Plants for Plants project, which developed new plant-based ‘bio-stimulants’ for conventional agriculture. Working across six European countries, the team produced and tested three new bio-stimulants which save water, reduce fungicide and phosphorous, and make crops more resilient to climate change and disease.
3. The LIFE Award for Climate Action: LIFE METRO ADAPT project on enhancing climate change adaptation strategies and measures in Milan, Italy’s second-largest city. Water management and nature-based solutions are used to implement sustainable drainage systems and prevent flood risk in urban areas.

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