Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias

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This project aims the mitigation of the different impacts and effects identified by the European Environment Agency that will affect, due to the climate change, to the European Mediterranean área and to the Outermost Regions of the European Union, such as:

· The increased risk of largest forestal fires

· The increased risk of desertification

· The growth of biodiversity loss

· The decrease in annual rainfall and the increase in water demand for agricultura

· The lack of transversality in the application of climate change mitigation policies

· The lack of sensitizaton and awareness on the role of forest covers on the mitigation and

· adaptation to climate change

LIFE NIEBLAS is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the following being of special interest:

1. Gestión y Planeamiento Territorial y Medioambiental, S.A. (GESPLAN). Canarias. España

2. Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria. Canarias. España.

3. Comuniade Intermunicipal Viseu Dão Lafões. Portugal

4. Centro de Investigación Ecológica y Aplicaciones Forestales. Canarias. España

5. Heredad de Aguas de Arucas y Firgas. Canarias. España

6. Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias (ICIA). Canarias. España

7. Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, S.A. (ITC). Canarias. España

8. Universidad de La Laguna (ULL). Canarias. España

Presupuesto: 2.249.942€

Financiación a través la Unión Europea: 1.207.383€ (55% del presupuesto elegible)

July 2020 - Dicember 2024

It is expected that climate change will promote conditions of low rainfall and desertification in substantial areas of southern Europe and the Outermost Regions of the European Union. The general objective of the project is to test innovative fog collectors and innovative typologies of reforestation that, based on fog water collection, do not significantly increase the carbon footprint compared to the traditional typologies, taking into account: their effectiveness, costs and benefits, including as far as possible, the externalities they produce.

In addition, the project also has the following specific objectives:

1. Demonstrate and disseminate the effectiveness, efficiency and capacity of the innovative fog collectors and reforestation typologies and the equipment linked to them to be tested in the Project, in contrast to traditional typologies; facilitating their replication, transfer or integration in third party plots and the EU policies on reforestation, and others like the ones on agriculture, and on water and energy management

2. To improve the resilience to climate change of a degraded area of the sunny slope of the El Andén ravine partially within the ES7010038 La Virgen ravine SAC on Gran Canaria island, with presence of the priority habitat 4050* "Endemic macaronesian heaths" by reforestations that: do not significantly increase the carbon footprint, improve both environment quality and water infiltration to the subsoil, control runoff, reduce evapotranspiration, and reverse or slow down the current process of desertification; using in addition laurel forests species to improve the conservation of the aforementioned habitat and SAC, as well as that of the Natura 2000 currently present species.

Portugal has 3 possible working areas: PTCON0027 Carregal do Sal, PTCON0016 Cambarinho and PTCON0059 Rio Paiva, depending on the decision made in actions A about the specifications of the fog collectors, reforestation methodologies and their linked equipment a reforestation area and species to be planted will be selected

3. Create synergies between the results of the Project and reforestation, environmental, agrarian, and energy and water management sectors and policies in the Canaries, Spain, Portugal, Europe and EU

4. Awareness and consciousness raising on the relevance of forest covers regarding water resources; showing the environmental importance of its conservation, recovery, maintenance and extension for the improvement of the resilience to climate change