Overseas property news - Flower power

Flower power

Each year, the gardens at Palheiro in Madeira, which is know as the ‘floating garden in the Atlantic,' holds an annual flower festival and this year's one is coming up fast, bringing extra colour to the capital and a chance to live amongst the flora and fauna...

The gardens, which are owned by the Blandy family, will be hosting the annual festival on April 25th to 26th. Bursting with more than 600 varieties of camellias, some dating back to 1810, the gardens are well known all over the world for having one of the best collections of camellias.

One of the most colourful traditional events organised in Madeira, the Flower Festival Sees many activities and celebrations take place around the capital of Funchal.

Flower displays, parades and the construction of a ‘Wall of Hope' in the Municipal Square ‘Praça do Município' bring extra colour to the capital.

Now you can live in amongst the flora and fauna - the Blandy's have developed Palheiro Village, a collection of 79 villas and apartments set in their own landscaped gardens.

Set on the tiered Southern side of the Palheiro Estate, one bedroom apartments start at £295,000 and three bedroom villas start at £627,950.

UK lagging in nature conservation

The European Union has some of the best environmental laws in the world, but the latest statistics suggest that some countries are not implementing them.

The UK is one of those countries and it has been revealed to be lagging well behind other European countries in terms of its nature conversion.

One place is it really falling down is the EU Birds Directive, which sets out regulations for the protection of birds. Despite having some of the best conservation sites in Europe, the UK is still behind at least ten other countries, including France and Belgium, when it comes to protecting its bird life. 

The UK has 265 Special Protection Areas, just over six per cent of the total land surface area. Of the 27 EU members, only five countries have a smaller percentage of their land area designated as Special Protection Areas.

One particular area of concern is the lack of sites protected for seabirds at sea, as the UK has one of the largest populations of some seabirds in Europe.

Green campaigners - including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - are pushing for the UK to place more emphasis on safeguarding its wildlife heritage.

Picture by imageafter

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