The LIFE Ebro Resilience P1 project appears in the catalog of Nature-Based Solutions for climate change adaptation in Spain, as one of the 15 success stories included in the document.
This is the opinion of E:SBN (Sistematización de las Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza en España), whose main objective is to establish a national system to identify, classify and catalog these actions.
The catalog was presented in an online seminar on May 28 and highlights the actions implemented and in project to reduce the risk of flooding in the middle stretch of the Ebro, as adaptation measures in the face of climate change.
Specifically, six intervention typologies have been highlighted:
- Retrenching of dykes/dikes: recovering the fluvial space. Defenses close to the river are removed and reconstructed farther away to recover the flood plain. This allows greater hydraulic capacity and reduces the impact of floods.
- Reconnection of old riverbeds, meanders or secondary branches: recovering old waterways. Restoring connections of historic watercourses to increase the length of the river and reduce water velocity. It favors biodiversity and sedimentation, reversing human modifications.
- Lateral flow buffer zones: adaptation of agricultural areas. Flood zones are created on agricultural land to minimize damage to infrastructure and fields. Water levels are managed with adapted elements, facilitating drainage at times of flooding and reducing erosion.
- Restoration of riparian corridors: recovering former undergrowth areas. Woodlots are planted connecting fragments of riparian vegetation to improve habitat and flow evacuation. Native species are used to reinforce biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
- Relief channels: new paths for water. Artificial branches of the river are built to divert part of the flow in times of flood. This reduces pressure on infrastructure and improves the functionality of bridges and meanders.
- Elimination of invasive exotic vegetation: invasive species that degrade river ecosystems, such as the common reed, are eradicated.
The E:SBN project seeks to enable coherent and effective planning, aligned with the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan and to facilitate the integration of Nature-Based Solutions in local and national policies to promote territorial resilience. It is led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through a grant for the second phase of the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in Spain.
The inclusion of LIFE Ebro Resilience in the catalog represents an opportunity to replicate these solutions in other areas of Spain facing similar challenges, one of the objectives set by the European Commission for funding 55% of the Project’s actions.
The compilation of these initiatives makes it possible to document good practices and analyze strategies for their application on a larger scale.
The catalog of nature-based solutions seeks to facilitate the integration of these measures into national climate adaptation policies, in line with the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan. The initiative is supported by scientific and environmental institutions and is positioned as a key tool for improving territorial resilience and addressing the environmental challenges of the future.