The Land Stewardship Platform (PCT), a project promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment through the Biodiversity Foundation, is ten years old.
The Land Stewardship Platform (PCT), a project promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, is ten years old, in which it has already become a consolidated conservation tool that seeks the preservation of nature in both public and private territories. Thanks to the Platform, landowners receive advice from a custodial entity to achieve management of their properties aimed at the conservation of their values and resources.
Throughout these 10 years, the Ministry, through the calls for aid from the Biodiversity Foundation, has supported around 90 land stewardship projects worth four million euros, has collaborated in the celebration of the State Land Stewardship Days, which have taken place every two years since 2004 in different parts of Spain, and has participated in hundreds of forums and congresses held throughout the national territory.
ADVICE TO PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTITIES
The Land Stewardship Platform offers advice to entities, owners, universities or administrations, as well as to agents related to territorial management or nature conservation. Thus, to promote these lines of collaboration, the PCT Participation Committee was established in 2008, which acts as a communication and consultation body between the stewardship movement and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment. The Committee meets annually to assess the progress of the Platform and plan the work together for the following year.
Throughout this decade, the stewardship agreements reached, the participating entities and the number of hectares guarded have increased. The Platform has published four inventories that reflect this evolution. Thus, between the first inventory, published in 2008, and the fourth, in 2015, there has been a rise from 514 custody agreements to 2,687, from 83 entities to 215 and from 177,876 hectares guarded to 550,987.
PROMOTION OF STEWARDSHIP IN CONSERVATION PROJECTS
During these ten years, the integration of land stewardship in different biodiversity conservation initiatives has been promoted, such as the LIFE+ Cantabrian Capercaillie projects or the ENPI ECOSAFIMED Programme, which during their execution included actions related to the signing of land stewardship agreements to contribute to the conservation of the Cantabrian capercaillie and the maintenance of sustainable artisanal fishing practices in the Mediterranean basin. respectively.
This conservation tool is also promoted in current projects such as the LIFE IP Intemares or the Beaches, Rivers, Volunteering and Land Stewardship Programme, in order to involve citizens in the conservation of the coastline and other natural areas.
