The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has launched the project “Changing lifestyles to recover nature”, an initiative to promote a change in mentality and encourage more sustainable consumption habits. 

Three other units of the Ministry participate in the project, the General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification, the General Directorate of Environmental Evaluation and Quality and the National Parks Autonomous Agency, through the National Center for Environmental Education. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the EFE Agency and SEO/BirdLife also participate as partners.  

The crisis generated by COVID-19 has forced us to rethink the model of life and has shown how high human pressure on ecosystems can generate a pandemic. In this context, it is urgent to protect and recover nature in order to have more resilient and healthy societies. For this reason, the Biodiversity Foundation is launching this initiative that seeks to combine well-being with respect for ecological limits.

CHANGING LIFESTYLES TO RECOVER NATURE
The contemporary lifestyle is highly unsustainable and has a serious impact on our natural environment. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are deteriorating worldwide as a result of human activity. This loss of biological diversity is interconnected and aggravated by climate change, so integrative actions and structural changes in the relationship with the environment are essential.  

The aim of the project is to promote more sustainable lifestyles and consumption in the food, leisure, tourism and textile sectors, which promote the conservation and recovery of biodiversity and improve the health and well-being of citizens.

To achieve this, actions will be carried out with the aim of making the Spanish population more aware and contemplating, in the short term, a change in their consumption habits, aimed at a more sustainable model. These actions aim to improve the production, accessibility, purchasing capacity and information of the most sustainable products and services; to raise awareness and sensitize about sustainable habits, encouraging reconnection with nature, and to identify barriers and opportunities to promote measures that integrate and promote these lifestyles. Another objective is to coordinate the policies that promote them, promote governance, cooperation and train different agents; promote successful experiences and analyse the factors to promote change.

In the coming months, a social and psychosocial study will be carried out on consumption habits in Spanish society, an analysis of daily consumption and its ecological impact, as well as a social awareness campaign to promote more sustainable lifestyles. The project will be complemented by an associated proposal that will be submitted to the next LIFE call of the European Union.  

If you want to make contributions to this initiative or share experiences and suggestions related to the topic, you can send them to the email address proyectos@fundacion-biodiversidad.es.