- LIFE CUSTODIA, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation, has the participation of leading organisations in this field, both nationally and internationally
- In Spain, land stewardship is positioned as a key tool for the conservation of ecosystems, landscapes and places of special natural value
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has presented this Friday a new project, co-financed by the LIFE Program of the European Union, aimed at promoting land stewardship as a social tool for the conservation and restoration of nature. It is LIFE CUSTODIA. Environmental governance: an innovative mission to improve biodiversity conservation through land stewardship, and is developed within the framework of the European Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the new European Regulation on Nature Restoration and international agreements, through innovation and collaboration between administrations, land or rights holders, companies, NGOs and other entities. The project, which is coordinated by the MITECO Biodiversity Foundation, has the participation of leading organizations linked to land stewardship, both nationally and internationally. Eurosite, Forum of Networks and Entities of Land Stewardship (FRECT), Global Nature Foundation (FGN), Fernando González Bernáldez Foundation/ Europarc-Spain, SEO/BirdLife and Xarxa per a la Conservació de la Natura (XCN) are partners. It has the financial contribution of the European Union’s LIFE Programme and its total budget is €1.74 million, of which 60% are funds of European origin. The project was presented this Friday at the headquarters of the Biodiversity Foundation, in a meeting that was attended by the Director General of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification of MITECO, María Jesús Rodríguez de Sancho, and the Director of the European Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment (CINEA) of the European Commission. Paloma Aba. Representatives of public administrations, companies and other leading organisations in the field of land stewardship have also participated, as well as project partners. LIFE CUSTODIA, which will run until September 2028, is based on three pillars: innovation, focused on financial and social mechanisms and the development of public policies; the mobilisation of funding, attracting private and public, European and national funds, to scale up the project’s results; and internationalization, maximizing the flow of innovation and transferability in land stewardship.
These pillars will be reinforced by the design and development of a training plan, the creation of a national focal point of contact on land stewardship and the dissemination of policies at the European Union level.
ACTIONS AND EXPECTED RESULTS
Among the objectives that the project hopes to achieve is a new framework to expand public and private funding opportunities to support land stewardship in Spain and the rest of the European Union. This framework will include a collection of good practices and demonstrative innovations, especially in terms of innovative financing tools that can enable the development of conservation and restoration projects based on land stewardship strategies. At least 5,000 hectares of impact are expected to be achieved on a pilot scale through 25 demonstration projects using innovative financing mechanisms in at least 15 Spanish provinces. In addition, a plan will be developed in a participatory way to promote land stewardship in public policies, at the local, regional and national levels. In the private sector, work will be done to include land stewardship in the environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of companies. Likewise, actions will be carried out to improve public information and the legal certainty of stewardship agreements, the measurement of their impact on nature conservation and the promotion of capacities for their promotion, and the exchange of experiences between the partners of the LIFE project and with other initiatives will be encouraged, strengthening networking at the international level.
LAND STEWARDSHIP IN SPAIN
Land stewardship is positioned as a key tool for the conservation of habitats, ecosystems, species, landscapes and places of special value throughout the territory with the involvement of numerous public and private actors. Its great potential is the direct involvement of people and civil society to conserve and recover nature. It unites administrations, non-profit organizations, owners, landowners, universities and other institutions. And it does so from a voluntary approach, which gives it even greater value. More and more agents are promoting agreements and collaboration mechanisms to achieve a positive environmental, cultural, economic and social impact on their territory. According to preliminary data from the latest Inventory of Land Stewardship Initiatives in Spain, which is being prepared by the MITECO Biodiversity Foundation, there are 265 stewardship entities, and 4,500 agreements have been signed covering a total of 723,000 hectares of land area. In Spain, land stewardship has been promoted for more than 20 years and is included and protected by the Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity. Since 2007, this tool has been promoted, among other initiatives, by the Land Stewardship Platform (PCT), created by the Biodiversity Foundation. After these years of activity and work of the PCT, a balance has been carried out and a PCT Strategy 2023-2027 has been drawn up, which includes 58 actions to improve and consolidate this key tool. Inspired by them and taking advantage of the support and willingness to participate of six national and international land stewardship entities, the LIFE CUSTODIA project begins its journey.
