The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, today approved the National Strategy for Green Infrastructure and Ecological Connectivity and Restoration
The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, today approved the National Strategy for Green Infrastructure and Ecological Connectivity and Restoration, a fundamental planning tool for identifying, conserving and recovering damaged ecosystems throughout Spain and connecting them with each other. The plan approved today by the Council of Ministers constitutes a fundamental roadmap for green recovery in terms of biodiversity, as well as an instrument to attract investments in this area in the coming decades.
The Strategy addresses one of the fundamental problems for nature conservation in Spain: the deterioration of ecosystems and the services they provide us, as well as their fragmentation. To address this, a series of far-reaching actions will be launched, in the short, medium and long term, to be carried out by the different Administrations, with the aim of consolidating a coherent network of fully connected natural and semi-natural areas in Spain by 2050.
This network ensures the good state of ecosystems and, with it, the supply of the services they provide us, as well as the ecological connectivity necessary to prevent the genetic isolation of species of fauna and flora, facilitate migrations and, ultimately, maintain a healthy biodiversity that is resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Green infrastructure is multifunctional because it offers multiple benefits in the same territorial area. These functions can be environmental (biodiversity conservation, restoration, or ecological connectivity); social (improvement of the rural environment and promotion of its opportunities or green spaces for the enjoyment of the population); economic (job creation, reduction of costs for mitigating the impacts of climate change or services provided by ecosystems); or policies (regional or local development, the fight against climate change, disaster risk management, water, agriculture or forestry), among others.
The Strategy sets out the guidelines for the identification and conservation of the elements that make up the green infrastructure of the Spanish territory and for the territorial and sectoral planning carried out by all Public Administrations to integrate this concept and take it into account in planning at all levels by the central government, Autonomous Communities and City Councils. In addition, it has milestone dates to monitor compliance.
With this Strategy, the Government makes a significant commitment to nature-based solutions to deal with the impacts of climate change, as they have generally proven to be more cost-effective than other technological solutions.
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY IN SPAIN
A manifestation of this loss of biodiversity is, for example, the conservation status of habitat types and species: only 9% of the former and approximately 21% of the latter are currently in a favourable state, according to data from the national report on the implementation of the Habitats Directive in Spain (period 2013-2018).
With regard to habitat types, those with the most unfavourable status are coastal ecosystems, epicontinental aquatic ecosystems, forests, rocky and stony areas and, above all, peatlands; As for species, it is mammals and, above all, fish, that are in a worse situation. For both habitat types and species, the situation is particularly unfavourable in the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical regions.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Ecosystem services are the benefits that society obtains from them, and include supply services (fresh water, food or energy, for example), regulatory services (freshwater purification, climate regulation or pollination, among others) and cultural services (such as recreational activities, tourism or aesthetic enjoyment itself).
The demand for these services is increasing more and more, with an ecological footprint that exceeds the planet’s capacity to sustain us, while at the same time increasing the degradation of ecosystems. In Spain, 45% of the ecosystem services assessed have been degraded or are being used in an unsustainable way, with regulatory services being the most negatively affected.
THE PROBLEM OF ECOSYSTEM FRAGMENTATION
Currently, 30% of the territory of the European Union has a moderate to high degree of fragmentation. Every year, more than 1,000 km² of territory are used for the construction of housing, industrial uses, roads or recreational purposes, according to data from the European Environment Agency. Spain shares this trend, and has been suffering from a continuous process of ecosystem fragmentation for decades.
The fragmentation of ecosystems is mainly caused by changes in land use and by the construction of local barriers such as urbanization, agricultural intensification, changes in vegetation cover, linear transport infrastructures, dams and weirs, canals, hunting fences, power lines, alignment of wind turbines and marine barriers such as ports, breakwaters, pipelines, etc. All these actions lead to the loss of ecological connectivity and permeability and, in turn, to the decrease in biodiversity.
In the last 50 years, our country has undergone an accelerated and unprecedented process of alterations as a result of the increase in population – which has grown by 67% since the mid-twentieth century – and an unsustainable development model, which have led to drastic changes in land use, which are currently the main direct driver underlying the deterioration of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity in Spain.
Despite the fact that Spain is one of the EU Member States in which it is possible to find larger and more numerous extensions of territory in a natural or semi-natural state, the density of infrastructures amounts to 0.61 kilometres per square kilometre of surface, exceeding the threshold considered critical of 0.60, from which the natural functionality of the landscape begins to be lost and ecosystems cease to provide their services.
There is currently no global and complete diagnosis of the connectivity of the territory in Spain, or the degree of fragmentation. It is known that fragmentation values are higher along the coast and in the northeast of the peninsula, and that the fragmentation of ecosystems and, therefore, the loss of ecological connectivity and permeability, are detrimental to biodiversity and the health of the territory.
A NETWORK TO RESTORE AND CONSERVE
Goal 0 among the 8 that make up the Strategy, described with this number because it is a priority and prior to the rest, is to identify and spatially delimit the basic network, at different scales, of green infrastructure in Spain. The network must have elements that stand out for the value of their biodiversity, for their outstanding provision of ecosystem services, or for their character as a relevant ecological connector. In addition, there may be not only elements to be preserved, but also elements of the green infrastructure to be restored, as they have a valuable potential to be part of this network even if they are currently degraded.
For this reason, the Strategy is accompanied by a technical tool: the Methodological Guide for the Identification of Green Infrastructure in Spain. This guide, which is being finalized, complements the National Strategy and has benefited from all participants in its development.
The other 8 goals of the Strategy are:
1) Reduce the effects of fragmentation and loss of ecological connectivity caused by changes in land use or the presence of infrastructure.
2) Restore degraded habitats and ecosystems in key areas to promote biodiversity, connectivity or the provision of ecosystem services, prioritizing nature-based solutions.
3) Maintain and improve the provision of ecosystem services from green infrastructure elements.
4) Improve the resilience of green infrastructure by promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation.
5) To guarantee the territorial coherence of green infrastructure by defining a governance model that ensures coordination between the different Administrations and institutions involved.
6) Effectively incorporate green infrastructure, the improvement of ecological connectivity and ecological restoration into the sectoral policies of all administrations, especially in terms of territorial planning and maritime spatial planning and environmental assessment.
7) Ensure adequate communication, education and participation of stakeholders and society in the development of green infrastructure.
THREE-YEAR WORK PROGRAMMES
These strategic goals will be implemented through 50 lines of action which, in turn, will be carried out through specific actions. For example, the General State Administration will develop its actions within the scope of its competences through three-year Work Programmes. This general scheme must be replicated by the Autonomous Communities in the development of their respective regional strategies, which must be approved within a maximum period of three years from the publication of this Strategy in the Official State Gazette, also including the necessary actions in each line of action.
The Strategy proposes a calendar with milestones and mid-term evaluations with the ultimate objective of achieving by 2050 the consolidation of this green infrastructure of the territory at the state level through the restoration of degraded ecosystems, the application of nature-based solutions, the integration of green infrastructure and its objectives into strategic sectoral policies, the planning and territorial management of key elements for green infrastructure at different scales (local, metropolitan, regional, regional and national), the implementation of governance models that guarantee inter-administrative and inter-territorial coordination, the full integration of green infrastructure in the environmental assessment processes of plans, programmes and projects on the territory and social awareness, the commitment and co-responsibility of strategic actors.
CONTROL AND MONITORING OF THE STRATEGY
In addition to the Work Programmes, the fulfilment of the objectives of the National Strategy as a whole will also be monitored, taking into account the results of the Work Programmes and the specific analyses or reports that have been carried out, as well as an initial review in 2023 and mid-term (2030 and 2040) and final (2050) Evaluation Reports of the National Strategy.
TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORK OF NATURAL AREAS
Among the key commitments of the new EU Biodiversity Strategy until 2030 is to give legal protection to at least 30% of the EU’s land and sea area and to incorporate ecological corridors, within a true Trans-European Network of Natural Areas. Member States will have until the end of 2023 to demonstrate that they have made significant progress in the legal designation of new protected areas and the integration of ecological corridors.
The National Strategy for Green Infrastructure and Ecological Connectivity and Restoration is framed in this context and also in that of adaptation to climate change.
KEY IN ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Ecological connectivity is a key aspect for adaptation to climate change, since many species of wild fauna and flora, both terrestrial and freshwater and marine, will have to travel to adapt their ranges in response to changes in local climatic conditions and in the composition of vegetation cover. At the ecosystem level, climate change affects not only the extent and condition of ecosystems, but also the services they provide.
In this sense, nature is a crucial ally in the fight against climate change, as it regulates the climate, and nature-based solutions, such as the protection and recovery of wetlands, peatlands and coastal ecosystems, or the sustainable management of marine areas, grasslands and agricultural and forest soils, will be essential for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change. The deployment of green infrastructure will help us cool urban areas and mitigate the impact of natural disasters, among other aspects.
