- The Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, presented yesterday the LIFE Wetlands project accompanied by partners and entities involved in this initiative.
- With an initial budget of 160 million euros but reaching 271 million, the LIFE Wetlands will promote 284 actions for the restoration of 26,100 hectares in the 17 autonomous communities and an additional mobilisation of 111 million is expected.
- Led by MITECO, it has a partnership of 24 partners, represented by four units of the ministry itself, 12 autonomous communities, two provincial councils, four companies and public foundations, as well as four environmental NGOs.
Spain launches the largest LIFE project in history, the European Union's main funding instrument dedicated exclusively to environmental protection and climate action, which has funded more than 6,000 projects since its inception in 1992.
On the occasion of the celebration of World Wetlands Day, the Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Sara Aagesen, presented yesterday in Irún (Guipúzcoa) the LIFE Wetlands project, in a day that included the visit to a wetland in Plaiaundi that will be restored by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) within the framework of this initiative.
“Protecting wetlands is not just a matter of ecology, it is water security, resilience, public health, green economy. It is intergenerational justice. We believe in a country that grows by taking care of everyone, that generates prosperity by improving the environment and leading together,” said Aagesen during his speech at the presentation of the project.
Previously, the Vice-President was able to see first-hand the actions already carried out by MITECO in this area, such as the naturalization project of the Artia Canal, in the stretch between the GI-636 and the Bidasoa estuary, in Irún. This action has had an investment of 3.7 million and is in its final phase of execution. The intervention has made it possible to recover the ecological functionality of the riverbed, increase its naturalness and improve the integration of the space in the Natura 2000 Network, making environmental restoration compatible with public use.
A TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECT
Thanks to LIFE Wetlands, more than 26,100 hectares will be restored over the next 10 years, exceeding by 30% the target foreseen in the PEH2030. In total, 284 actions will be implemented in wetlands located in 107 spaces of the Natura 2000 Network in the 17 autonomous communities.
Collaboration in this project will be essential, as demonstrated by the 24 partners who will participate: 12 autonomous communities: Andalusia, Aragon, Principality of Asturias, Cantabria, Catalonia, Castile-La Mancha, Castile and Leon, Galicia, Community of Madrid, Region of Murcia, La Rioja and Comunitat Valenciana; as well as with the Provincial Councils of Álava and Guipúzcoa. Four companies and public foundations are also partners: the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León, TRAGSA, SARGA and Orekan, and four environmental NGOs: the Nature and Man Foundation, Global Nature Foundation, SEO/BirdLife and WWF-Spain and four units of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Directorate-General for Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification; Directorate-General for the Coast and the Sea; Spanish Climate Change Office, and Biodiversity Foundation, which coordinates the project).
The LIFE Wetlands Project Promoting the knowledge, management and restoration of Red Natura 2000 wetlands in Spain will have a special focus on the recovery of wetland ecosystems and the conservation status of priority habitats and species.
Until 2036, actions will be developed to increase the knowledge and information of wetlands, improve their management and planning and integrate sectoral policies such as agriculture and tourism to contribute to the good state of conservation of these ecosystems. It will also strengthen the system of governance among the various social actors and strengthen awareness at all levels of society about the benefits they bring and the importance of their conservation.
The application of nature-based solutions will contribute to the restoration of 43 habitat types and 41 species of community interest in wetlands of different types such as high mountain lagoons, inland wetlands, coastal lagoons or marshes, among many others. To this end, measures will be put in place that address the hydromorphological and ecological restoration of the wetland, the improvement of the plant vine, the removal of waste, the control of invasive exotic species or the installation of nest boxes, among others.
The focus, methodologies and solutions of the project will also be transferred to other regions of the national territory and the continent to contribute to the conservation and improvement of wetland ecosystems and their biodiversity.
INTEGRATION OF FUNDS
To develop this extensive programme of actions, the LIFE Wetlands project has an initial budget of 160.5 million. Of these, $96 million is provided by MITECO, $34.5 million by project partners and $30 million by the European Commission. It is also expected that up to 111 million additional funds will be mobilised during the project period, of which 26 million have already been committed. All this will add up to a global budget of more than 271 million.
It is part of a typology of LIFE Program projects called strategic integrated projects. Through them, the European Union seeks to make it easier for Member States to implement European environmental and climate legislation. To implement them, funds are allocated for plans, programmes and strategies developed at the regional or national level.
Thus, the project will complement the financing of the LIFE Programme with other sources, such as the EAFRD, ERDF and ESF+ Structural Funds, in addition to the General State Budgets and private contributions, among others.
WETLANDS, KIDNEYS OF THE PLANET
On World Wetlands Day, the international community has highlighted these ecosystems, which are fundamental for the conservation of biodiversity and our well-being. They perform multiple and important functions. They provide water and food, help mitigate the effects of climate change, help mitigate droughts and control floods. In addition, they help to filter water, protect the coast, improve air quality and provide raw materials, genetic resources for medicines and hydroelectric energy.
Despite their importance, they are disappearing at an accelerated rate due to causes such as overexploitation of aquifers and rivers, pollution, climate change or the proliferation of invasive species. The world has lost more than a third of the world’s wetlands in just 50 years.
Degraded wetlands protect less against extreme weather events, mainly floods, and have less capacity to act as green filters and to retain greenhouse gases, thus generating a greater acceleration of global warming.
THE HUMID AREAS OF SPAIN
Spain is renowned for hosting the greatest diversity of ecological types of wetlands within the European Union, including unique ecosystems such as marshes, crypto-wetlands and hyperalkaline lagoons. It has more than 2,000 humid areas, of which 92% are continental and, of these, freshwater areas are the most numerous (46%).
The situation between two continents and its geological, geographical and climatic variability accentuates the biodiversity of Spanish wetlands. Occupying a key place in the migratory routes of many species of waterfowl, the presence of numerous rare, endemic and/or threatened animal and plant taxons and high concentrations of wildlife, which include up to 40% of the waterfowl investing in the western Mediterranean, stand out.
Spain, in addition, is the third country with the most wetlands included in the International Ramsar List with 76 spaces, which occupy more than 300,000 hectares of surface.
However, during the last 200 years, between 60% and 75% of our country’s wetlands have disappeared and half of the existing wetlands are considered to be altered or very altered. This situation is worsened by the lack of knowledge in some spaces and the need to improve the compatibility of productive activities with the conservation of these ecosystems.
COMMITMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT
In recent years, the government has been working to reverse the vulnerability of the country’s wetlands. In just three large wetlands—Mar Menor, Doñana, and Albufera—more than 1.5 billion have been mobilized. Las actuaciones lideradas por el MITECO se fundamentan en amplios procesos de participación, conocimiento científico e innovación social. In fact, the action in one of those wetlands in the Mar Menor has been recognized by the UN as a Global Flagship Ecosystem Restoration Initiative for its social innovation.