The project seeks to determine the economic viability of adaptation to climate change in the Cantabrian mountain range by controlling common fern populations.

The project “Adaptation to climate change in the Cantabrian Mountains through the control of common fern populations in a circular economy system” is an initiative of the Association of Sustainable Municipalities of Cantabria, whose objective is to determine the economic viability of adaptation to climate change in the Cantabrian Mountains by controlling the populations of common fern(Pteridium aquilinum). The initiative has the support of the Biodiversity Foundation, through its call for grants.

Through the project, two relevant facts have been demonstrated:

– Successive mowing has been found to be an effective method for controlling the common fern in meadows invaded by this species, where it manages to become the dominant vegetation, being the potential cause of the origin and spread of numerous forest fires.

– The results of this project confirm the possibility of using the active ingredients obtained from this plant as an effective biological insecticide to combat certain insect pests that affect some fruit and cereal crops.

Combining both evidences opens a new scenario for the fight against the expansion of ferns and its consequences, as this plant becomes raw material for a new economic use, which will result in the control of fern populations by the owners of land where this plant grows, in whose collection they will be able to find a new source of economic income. By controlling fern populations, we will be helping to eliminate flammable cargo from our forests and prevent the spread of forest fires and, with it, reduce their impact on climate change.