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The project aims to improve river connectivity in two autonomous communities through the application of Land Stewardship tools, contributing to the control of Invasive Alien Species through the recovery of the riparian forest and its associated biodiversity, involving owners, volunteers and schoolchildren. The project arises as a dissemination and application on a larger scale of the River Stewardship initiatives launched in the context of a LIFE+SEGURARIVERLINK project (coordinated by the CHS), as well as river improvement actions supported by the City Council of Murcia, extending the scope of action to the middle and lower section of the Segura River. This river was once known as one of the most polluted in Europe and despite its problems it stands out today as one of the most polluted rivers. Example of water quality recovery, it is now necessary to move towards the recovery of ecosystem aspects of it.

The main objective of the project focuses on strengthening the river connectivity of the Segura River through Land Stewardship:

The specific objectives are as follows:

• Promote Land Stewardship as a tool for river restoration.
• Create patches of riparian forest that improve the corridor function of the Segura River.
• Evaluate the use of the river as a corridor for key biological elements.
• Involve the population in the recovery.

• Plan for the Promotion of a River Stewardship Network (establishment of new agreements and maintenance of existing ones).
• Actions for the recovery of riparian forests (riparian plant production, IAS control (Arundo donax, Acacia), planting of new riparian forests, care of riparian forests in the process of recovery) and associated biodiversity (installation of nests for bats).
• Biological monitoring of key elements (birds, turtles, otter, bats) of the riparian forest.
• Social participation and dissemination programme that will include volunteering actions, preparation of informative material (printing of existing material and preparation of new material) and activities in educational centres within the scope of the project.

According to the entity, the project has demonstrated the effectiveness of Land Stewardship agreements (creating 9 new agreements and maintaining 13) in the recovery of riparian forests, in a total of 15.3 ha in 21 different locations and with the planting of more than 2000 seedlings of 19 species. It has also acted on the associated biodiversity, achieving the development of up to 115 refuges for bats in 8 localities, capturing 305 specimens of birds for ringing, detecting 14 species of bats together with 45,000 files of ultrasonic recordings, monitoring and detection of otters in 5 municipalities and massive participation in the activities of 223 volunteers and 701 students.