Objective
The LIFE project is a demonstration project with potential for far-reaching application. Experimental cultivation of 60 hectares of ricefield will take place, employing different management models in order to establish the economic and technical viability of models compatible with the conservation and regeneration of natural values. The positive aspects of these models will be disseminated locally to promote their adoption elsewhere in the delta and in other comparable zones. Information and awareness activities are indispensable to ensure participation by the local inhabitants, essential if the project is to develop favorably and achieve its objectives.
In parallel, scientific monitoring is foreseen to evaluate changes in the ricefields as a result of the application of the different experimental management models.
The Ebro delta, a wetland system of about 33 000 hectares, is one of the most important wetlands in the Mediterranean and because of that it has been designated nature park and Special Protection Area for Birds. It is of great significance at the European level because it is a vital staging point on bird migration routes and because it contains a considerable number of birds listed on Annex I of the Birds Directive. More than 180 000 waterfowl winter, and about 40 000 pairs nest, in the delta. These facts also explain why it has been included in the Ramsar list of internationally important wetlands.
Most of the delta is occupied by ricefields, even though significant natural areas still remain, such as coastal lagoons, marshes, springs, dunes and floodplain forests. The problems facing the area stem from the massive tensions between economic activities and the conservation of natural resources, most clearly seen through the impact of agriculture (eutrophication, the use of pesticides and changes to local hydrology) on the natural aquatic environments of the delta (lagoons and marshes). A zonal programme of agri-environmental measures to complement the measures undertaken by the LIFE project, is foreseen.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
28224 Pozuelo de Alarcón
Spain