Awards

Belleuropa – an annual award dedicated to rural properties that support the sustainable development of private properties in Europe, and encourage conservation, biodiversity and the development of new technologies. Their aim is to support the so-called Third-Generation Agriculture with immaterial productions such as quality of life, landscape, noise absorption, and CO2 reduction or limitation.
Winners:

•2007 : In 2007, the Belleuropa Award was presented to les Salins du Midi (France). The process of the activities of “les Salins”, consisting of moving sea water across vast areas in order to concentrate the brine, thanks to the sun and the wind, to the point where it becomes saturated and settles down in the crystallizers to form a salt cake that will then be harvested, creates a rich and diverse ecosystem. There are three reasons: firstly, the salt works is a sanctuary, which provides sizeable tranquil habitats where indigenous birds and plants can prosper; second, the gradient of salinity all along the brine path promotes biodiversity; finally, the production cycle requires flooding the ponds in the summertime thus providing resting and feeding grounds for the migratory birds.
For the “Salins” team it is a priority to make environmental stewardship an integral part of its salt operation management. They avoid as much as practically feasible alterations of the physical layout of the ponds and of the water circulation. Moreover they sometimes remodel these ponds in order to increase the protection they provide to the birds. “Les Salins” also implemented an open communication and transparency strategy, fostering community involvement, organizing a controlled eco-tourism, participating in scientific programs and partnering with NGOs.

• 2008: The “Rehabilitation of the Seefeld Estate”, in Lower Austria and owned by Mr. Hardegg. By working on the rehabilitation of the local river and the creation of humid zones and habitats in the Seefeld Estate, the Estate now represents the balance between agriculture, water management, flora and fauna and as such is a perfect example of sustainable rural development.

• 2009: The “Renaturation of a former iron curtain”, of the Forstbetrieb Morsleben Estate, owned by Dr. Eberhard Hamer. This estate is a German Woodstock farm formerly belonging to the family and seized by the communists in 1945, becoming part of the iron curtain. After the reunification in 1994 it was brought back to the family by the German government. Unfortunately a good proportion of the forest had been turned into waste-land by military units to build up the iron curtain. For 40 years a stripe was poisoned by weed-killers, built with a fence and covered with land mines, anti tank obstacles and automatic firing devices. This had to be turned back to its natural and original estate as far as possible. Actions and means: Before planting any trees it had to be checked out what kind of trees can grow in the soil that has been poisoned for 40 years. Only 5 species were generally able to survive. The experiment began with these 5 species. Over the next 14 years some 16 coniferous tree species and some 31 broad-leaved tree and bushes species were added to the experiment and planted in broad scale. This turned the Morsleben project to a reforestation project with the greatest variety of wood species and because of that a well known model of forestation. The entire area was enriched by 4 lakes and 5 natural clearings and thus a paradise for the great variety of wild animals living there, too.