Last February 11th, LIFE Scrubsnet project kick off meeting was held with the participation of all partner organisations. Innogestiona Ambiental, as project coordinator, made a general review of the main actions of the project, which aims at the revitalization of degraded agroforestry habitats through the enhancement of scrubland patches.
Scrubsnet project consortium includes partners from Spain (Innogestiona Ambiental -coordinator-, Extremadura Verde, Dirección General de Sostenibilidad – Junta de Extremadura, Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla – Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Ayuntamiento de Plasencia, Sociedad Española de Ornitología, Grupo Ecohábitat Ibérico, Universidad de Córdoba, Universidad de Extremadura), Portugal (Universidad de Évora) and Italy (Agris Sardegna).
During the meeting, each entity presented its background and interest in the LIFE Scrubsnet project, which highlighted the importance of scrub patches to ensure the complexity of different agricultural ecosystems, from a scientific, political, socio-economic and environmental perspective.
Scrubsnet project was presented by Juan Pablo Martín, head of the European projects department at Innogestiona Ambiental, who went through the different preparatory actions, compensatory measures, conservation actions and impact assessment, that will be carried out throughout the project, along with the presentation of the pilot farms/estates where the interventions and field studies will be implemented: Finca San Francisco (Huelva), Finca Comunal de Siruela (Badajoz(, Finca Valcorchero (Plasencia) and Finca Heredade do Passareiro (Portugal).
Natalia Palmero, responsible for the administration department, reviewed the important aspects in administrative matters and for the financial justification, and asked partners to decide on a date for a specific workshop to clarify doubts and reviewed most important milestones that will take place during the 5 years of the project.
In terms of communication, Sara Vargas, from Innogestiona Ambiental’s communication department, presented the logo (developed by Ernesto Montoya, Innogestiona’s graphic designer) and the different Scrubsnet social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), as well as the collaborative work methodology in the cloud and the main requirements for publications and communications, with special attention to the financing of the project by the LIFE programme.
LIFE Programme
The LIFE Scrubsnet project is co-funded by the European Union through the LIFE LIFE20 NAT/ES/000978 programme. Scrubsnet will work towards a greater presence of shrub species in dehesas, with the aim of favouring the revitalisation and protection of different habitats and their associated species, as well as directly influencing CO2 capture, on the understanding that patches of scrubland are key to the ecological functionality of these systems and should therefore form part of a sustainable model of landscape management.
