ECOlogical use of native PLANTs for environmental restoration and sustainable development in the MEDiterranean region

Several Valencian associations met on 7 February 2015 in Quart de Poblet (Valencia), at the premises of the Centre for Applied Forest Research (CIEF) (pdf ES), ECOPLANTMED Partner in Spain, on the occasion of the workshop "Land Stewardship Associations and restoration of natural habitats". The objectives of this workshop were on the one hand to share the work developed in the conservation and restoration of the natural environment by the organizations involved in land stewardship and secondly, identify needs, difficulties and challenges related to their restoration work. This event was organized in collaboration with Avinença, the Valencian land stewardship associations network and within the framework of ECOPLANTMED (pdf ES).

The workshop began with the presentations of the works being carried out by some land stewardship associations in restoring natural habitats: Acció Ecologista Agró (pdf ES), Colla Ecologista L’Arrel (pdf ES), Aixortà TF, La Codolla (pdf ES) and Fundació Limne. They all work with the collaboration of environmental volunteers, i.e. people who voluntarily commit themselves to projects that restore and protect the environment.

During the course of the day, several issues and needs were expressed by the associations that participated in the event, as for example the need for technical advice by public administration regarding issues related to the spread and selection of species for habitat restoration, or practical aspects such as designing the plantation, hole digging or monitoring actions (pdf ES). Another major problem identified was the availability of native plants, locally adapted and of good quality for restoration work. In this sense, in Valencia, the private sector dedicated to the production of forest species cannot provide a large number of locally certified tree-shrub species of interest for restoration of habitats. It was also noted that this material is not only necessary for the activities of restoration of natural habitats, but is also useful in agricultural and agroforestry systems as well as in the field of Mediterranean organic gardening, with emphasis on forest-urban interface areas.

One of the main conclusions at the end of the day was that the creation of a common virtual platform, where different entities could share information of interest and experiences would be a useful tool for exchanging know-how and creating synergies. The CIEF, which has been working for years with Avinença and with some of the land stewardship associations that attended the workshop, mainly through the provision of plant material, but also through technical advice, has reiterated its commitment with the associations and also expressed its willingness to organize more technical seminars that generate practical documents in relation to the difficulties identified during this meeting.

For more information about the workshop, contact Antoni Marzo at marzo_ant@gva.es.

See workshop agenda here: pdf ES.