The initiatives presented cover some 3,800 municipalities that represent a population of about 37 million inhabitants served. The deadline for submitting applications for the first call for aid from the PERTE for Digitalization of the Water Cycle, promoted by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), has ended with 158 projects presented that cover approximately 3,800 municipalities throughout the Spanish territory, providing service to a population of close to 37 million inhabitants. The total budget of the projects presented is around 1,400 million, while the total amount requested is approximately 1,022 million. Of the 158 applications, 123 are made by individual applicants, and 35 in a group of applicants. Most of the projects contemplate several municipal areas, however, the number of municipalities served in each project is highly variable. It ranges from initiatives in a single municipality to projects in more than 50 locations. Likewise, most of the projects serve a permanent population of more than 20,000 inhabitants. In this way, actions have been presented both in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants and in places that do not reach this population figure, since they have been presented through joint projects or in a group of applicants. More efficient and sustainable use The fundamental objective of all these initiatives is to improve the efficiency of the integral urban water cycle from collection, storage and distribution, to sanitation and purification, thus contributing to more efficient and sustainable use of this resource.
In the applications submitted, a whole battery of actions and measures are proposed that include diagnosis, analysis and planning, as well as specific measures to improve efficiency, where an essential part of all of them is the digitalization and updating of information systems and management tools for the entire integral urban water cycle. Once the deadline for submitting proposals has ended, the period of study and evaluation of the applications submitted begins, which will culminate in the middle of the year with the resolution of the WhatsApp Number List granting of aid. These will range between 3 and 10 million per project with a total availability of 200 million from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.La Laguna and the Neotropic Foundation work to control the population of Kramer's parrots Trap against the Kramer parrot from the Neotropic Foundation Trap against the Kramer parrot from the Neotropic Foundation Jaime de Urioste, director of the foundation, points out that the action is carried out with trapping systems designed to guarantee the well-being of the specimens and their reception at the entity's Center. The Department of Environment and Animal Welfare of the La Laguna City Council collaborates with the Neotropic Foundation in a program to control the populations of Kramer's parakeet (Psittacula krameri) that relies on non-lethal procedures and in which well-being is ensured.
Captured specimens of a species classified as invasive exotic, which generates serious problems for local biodiversity. The initiative will deploy an ethical and safe system of selective trapping in the parks of La Vega and La Constitución, as well as in the Camino Largo, areas with a notable presence of this and other species of feral psittacines, and the captured specimens will be housed. in the Foundation's facilities, where they will participate in awareness-raising actions, training professional teams and in various research, also of a zoosanitary nature and on the prevalence of infectious pathologies potentially transmissible to species of native fauna or the human population. The process of capturing and removing the parrots by the Neotropic Foundation, in collaboration with the City Council, will be carried out from May 1 of this year and will be accompanied by an environmental education campaign through which the local population will be sensitized about the danger of abandoning exotic pets, in general, and parrots, in particular. Training improvement The specimens of exotic fauna in custody become indispensable tools for the acquisition of specific technical training, which also includes security forces, forestry agents, etc. through the different training actions of the Neotropic Foundation in collaboration with the Canary Islands Security Academy, and specific cycles taught for the General Customs Administration, CITES authorities, Civil Guard and government technicians. Likewise, specimens kept in captivity are essential for the experimental design of new capture devices and for the optimization of existing models, with the aim of increasing their effectiveness.