Los desiertos verdes - circle-2

The Green
Deserts project
Life+ 2009-2015
EEA GRANTS Conference - The Role of Water in Adaptation to Climate Change
08/10/2013, Lisbon. Sven Kallen, Director Transfer Consultancy
Iberia – frontier fight against climate change
Zaragoza
Lisboa
Murcia
Objectives
1. Prove technical and economic
feasibility of Groasis Waterboxx
2. Disseminate concept
¨Deal with desertification of abandoned
areas (dry, bare) which used to be lungs
for the capture of CO2, sources of food
production and landscape.¨
3. Involve local communities
4. Clarify best combination of soils,
trees, and application methods
Participants
Universidad de Valladolid
Diputación de Valladolid
Diputación de León
Ayuntamiento de San Mateo de Gállego
Ayuntamiento de Riofrío de Aliste
Aquapro
Sylma
Transfer Consultancy
The scope of the project
55,000 saplings
65 Ha.
5 areas
- Valladolid
- León
- Zamora
- Zaragoza
- Barcelona
FACTS: León
Altitude 1600-1800 m
Slope of 39,6 %
No water retention
Snow 8 months/year
The scope
FACTS: Zamora
Old quarry
Altitude of 900 m
Strong winds
high rainfall in winter
FACTS: Valladolid
Altitude of 800 m
Former illegal waste dumps
Dry summers & cold winters
FACTS: Barcelona
Altitude of 100-300 m
Hills suffer from forest fires
Low water retention capacity
Almost no top-soil (slate)
FACTS: Zaragoza
Altitude of 300 m
Highly degraded soil
Desertification
(Los Monegros)
Actions
Characterisation and selection of
species and lots
Preparation of saplings
Realisation of the Waterboxxes
and capillary drill
Planting of the saplings
Maintenance, control and
technical monitoring
Innovation: Groasis Waterboxx
Planting
Control & monitoring (1)
o
o
o
o
o
10% trees planted without Waterboxx as control group
Random sampling of 5-10%
Measurement of different factors (survival, growth, etc.)
Thermal effect
Analysis of problems
Damage by frost and low
temperatures
Damage by wildlife: moles,
rabbits, wild boars…
Control & Monitoring (2)
Control & monitoring (3)
State of project – first
conclusions
The Groasis Waterboxx looks like a good
tool to improve survival rates of trees, but
other factors are at play:
o
o
o
o
Quality of the sapling
Correct positioning of Waterboxx
Maintenance
Animals
Communication - Local awareness
Cooperation with other Life+
•
LIFE Delta Lagoon - Sant Carles de la Rapita (Tarragona)-Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre
•
LIFE Reserva Campanarios de Azaba (Salamanca)-IRTA
Delta del Ebro-Sant Carles de la Rapita
Campanarios de Azaba
The web: all content in 2 languages
News section:
El Mundo
La Opinión de
Zamora
La Crónica
etc
Action!
Involvement lessons:
• Involve people & local communities: offer concrete activities
• Grasp attention: short articles, video, social media, …
• People see the issues (desertification, habitat loss, etc.) but feel
rather powerless: give them inspiration!
As a team we learned:
• “It’s the SOIL stupid!”
• Develop new projects to deal with deserted, dry, bare lands
New LIFE projects
Operation CO2: Climate change project, 2 lines of action:
- Carbon credits for forest conservation (4.000 Ha.) for the
voluntary market
- Integral agroforestry systems (2 * 25 Ha.), pre-certification
All info at: www.operationCO2.com
Muito obrigado!
For more information, please check:
• www.thegreendeserts.com
• The Green Deserts on Facebook
• Youtube channel
Or contact:
• [email protected]
(Sven Kallen)