REVITALIZING MULTIFUNCTIONAL MEDITERRANEAN AGROSILVOPASTORAL SYSTEMS USING DYNAMIC AND PROFITABLE OPERATIONAL PRACTICES
Funding Entity: European Union. LIFE16 ENV/ES/000276.
Principal Investigator: Ignacio Santa-Regina Rodríguez.
Participants: Alvaro Peix Geldart, José Mariano Igual, Martha Helena Ramírez Bahena, Raquel Arroyo Palomares, José Luis Hernández Mulas, Angel Luis Iglesias Pascual, Cesáreo Pérez, Macario Jesús Sánchez Galán.
Duration: 2017-2021
Summary
The LIFE Regenerate project focuses on demonstrating the feasibility of integrated management of dehesas based on silvopastoral systems. These important areas, which are under threat, can become self-sufficient and profitable based on the efficient use of resources and incorporating value-added products, both at demonstration and large scale.
According to current estimates these systems generate a deficit of 200 €/ha. Product prices are similar to those of 30 years ago, and landowners face losses of up to 500 €/ha due to Phytophthora-related diseases. Together with the decrease in subsidies, these agro-silvopastoral lands have lost up to 20% of their value, causing the abandonment of the rural environment and the loss of micro-economies typical of these areas.
This project will transform current production models into profitable systems that work with nature and not against it. This new method will have: lower input costs, alternative sources of income, recycled existing resources, increased natural regeneration, improved soil and increased agricultural productivity so that their land can be economically and environmentally sustainable.
