To improve the state of conservation of the Cantabrian coast, the Aranzadi Science Society has completed a research project and design of Action Plans for the recovery of dune systems.

The Aranzadi Science Society was a beneficiary in the 2017 LIFE Call for Grants with the project “In-situ and Ex-situ innovative combined techniques for coastal dune habitats restoration in SCIs of northern Spain”, which has aimed to contribute to the updating of the action plans that can be updated every six years, in order toto maintain or achieve a favourable conservation status for the habitats and species of interest of coastal dunes in the Atlantic Biogeographic Region. Previously, in 2014, the entity was benefited with the project “Wetland conservation through an international network of sustainable tourism: The Route of the Ansares” for the promotion and sustainable management of the area.

The LIFE+ARCOS project has focused on the implementation of a series of measures aimed at improving the conservation status of the dune ecosystems of the Cantabrian coast, through the restoration of 10 of these ecosystems in as many areas of the Natura 2000 Network distributed between the Autonomous Communities of Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country.

In the first phases of the project, reports were made on the collection and conservation of material, germination tests, morphometric characterization, list of collections and files on 18 plant species. On the other hand, a document was prepared with the protocols for the cultivation of Cantabrian dune species for use in restoration. For each of the beaches studied, an Action Plan was designed for the recovery of their dune systems.