Two LIFE projects which won top prizes at the recent LIFE Awards 2026 have both successfully reversed the fortunes of species in decline.
Egyptian Vulture New LIFE won the LIFE Citizens’ Prize, awarded to the LIFE project receiving the highest public vote in an online poll. The €5.8 million project, which ran from 2017 to 2022, was one of the most ambitious vulture conservation initiatives ever undertaken. The project team successfully halted the decline in the Balkan population of Egyptian Vultures and mounted an awareness raising campaign which reached an astonishing 25 million people in 14 countries across Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Egyptian vulture is Europe’s only long-distance migratory vulture, but the species had suffered a dramatic decline — up to 80% of the population lost in just 30 years — due to poisoning, electrocution, persecution and habitat loss. The project team tagged more than 50 birds with satellite transmitters to gather vital data. Specific threats were addressed through national anti-poisoning strategies for Bulgaria, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia; establishing a Bulgarian police anti-poisoning dog team; removing more than 100 poison baits and training over 100 employees from national and local authorities.
The team trained over 100 specialists to insulate more than 1 500 hazardous electricity poles in 6 countries. 500 police from 5 countries formed anti-poaching and wildlife crime units, resulting in the closure of the biggest wildlife market in Egypt and the confiscation of 10 Egyptian Vultures from illegal collections in Lebanon, Syria, Niger and Jordan. 30 captive-bred birds were also released into the wild.
‘Our project proved that nature can unite people beyond boundaries, beyond countries and beyond conflicts,’ says project coordinator Stoyan Nikolov. ‘Partners from Europe, Asia and Africa worked together to save the sacred Egyptian vulture.’
The 2026 Special Award for exceptional work in a specific field — in this case, investing ina nature-positive economy, reflecting the theme of EU Green Week 2026 — was won by LIFE Olivares Vivos. The €2.8 million, 6-year project worked to protect and restore biodiversity across southern Spain by designing and certifying environmentally-friendly olive groves. LIFE Olivares Vivos established 20 demonstration olive groves covering 3 600 ha of farmland, planted with shrubs, native grasses and barley. Dozens of ponds, water troughs, bird and bat boxes and insect hotels were installed, along with 450 m of dry-stone walls.
The project team carried out the largest-ever scientific study of biodiversity in olive groves, and created a successful certification mark, Olivares Vivos Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), which producers can put on their labels to show they are part of the scheme. 15 olive growers now carry the certification mark, 65 municipalities are actively involved, and more than 700 olive growers have expressed an interest in converting their farms to the Olivares Vivos model.
‘We demonstrated that biodiversity and profitability are very good friends,’ says Asunción Ruiz, coordinator of the LIFE Olivares Vivos project. ‘Our farmers now say nature is the future of agriculture, a bridge between science, biodiversity, farming and the market. An agriculture full of life is an agriculture with a future.’
Both Egyptian Vulture New LIFE and LIFE Olivares Vivos support the implementation of the EU <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/legislation/birdsdirective/index_en.htm” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Birds and Habitats Directives, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Nature Restoration Law.
Publication date
20 July 2026
Author
European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
