Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2021

Total budget:

€72,000.36

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

€50,400.24

In the context of climate change in the Mediterranean basin, watershed management presents an opportunity to address the need for adaptation, increasing their resilience through the implementation of technologies and measures that seek a medium-term recovery of the water cycle. According to the entity, there is a willingness to undertake ecological restoration on the part of the regional government of the Valencian Community, the physical environment, the atmospheric and eco-physiological processes and the role they could play are known, while there is extensive experience in forest restoration (particularly post-fire). The Mijares River basin (Teruel and Castellón) has suffered, like other Mediterranean areas, a feedback loop towards drought and desertification. In order for the water cycle to be recovered, it is necessary to address the design of ecological restoration processes in a participatory way with all the agents involved.

The main objective is to identify, together with the agents, the environmental, social, cultural and economic development factors that facilitate the design of comprehensive plans that increase the resilience of the basins to climate change and promote the multifunctionality of environmental services.

Among its specific objectives are:

• To facilitate the recovery of the water cycle (rainfall of orographic origin that in the Mediterranean basins is potentially of great importance).
• Carbon sequestration by forest ecosystems.
• Biodiversity protection, erosion reduction, fire prevention.
• Promotion of new economic activities, involving all socio-economic actors.

• Bibliographic review of scientific articles published in recent years, i.e. those publications that deal with climate change (adaptation), ecosystem processes, the restoration of environmental services and the water cycle.
• Modelling of climate change scenarios and strategies for the restoration of environmental services.
• Surveys and consultation of the local population, socio-economic agents involved: socio-economic analysis and perception of the actors involved in the design of actions leading to the ecological restoration of environmental services and the water cycle in the Mijares Basin.
• Integration and analysis in the ARIES modelling platform, of different scenarios for the restoration of environmental services associated with different socio-economic scenarios.
• Preparation of publication and communication and dissemination activities.
• Dissemination and communication of the project.

• Several measures for sustainable land use management and adaptation to climate change have been selected in agroforestry areas of the Mijares river basin, thanks to the combination of the application of modelling products and participatory processes.
• Previous studies on summer storms, places of fog catchment and prevailing winds in summer in the Mijares river basin have been analyzed .
• The possible measures that could be carried out on the basin in relation to the reactivation of the hydrological cycle based on the scientific literature have been studied. The relevant actors in the basin were asked about the feasibility and problems of these measures, as well as other possible ones that they considered necessary.
• With all this information and joining it to environmental, social, economic development factors and in order to increase resilience to climate change in the basin, certain consensus recommendations have been pointed out that should be carried out.
• Given the size of the basin, it will be decided to try to carry out pilot projects in some villages of the basin to try to involve, in view of the results, private owners, who represent an important part of the basin, in order to carry out the proposed measures on the maximum possible area.
• An interdisciplinary and replicable methodology has been developed that allows the personalization of standardized rural adaptation measures.