This project is headed by the Granada Provincial Council, with the participation of the Water Institute at the University of Granada and the Granada companies Bonterra Ibérica SL and Paisajes del Sur SL as associated beneficiaries. The project is cofinanced by the Regional Government of Andalusia Provincial Department of the Environment.
○ Coordinating Beneficiary:
Granada Provincial Council. Department of the Environment.
The Granada Provincial Council is the Local Government body for the province of Granada (Andalusia, Spain). It is a local public administration that, under the constitution, has the recognised right to manage the specific interests of the province with full autonomy. It provides technical and financial support to municipalities, particularly those with less than 2000 inhabitants and with scarce resources.
In particular, and among its other lines of work, the Granada Provincial Council Department of the Environment supports and advises small municipalities and local bodies on the subject of solid urban waste management, local Agenda 21s, water cycle management and any other matter concerning local environmental management.
This Department has extensive experience in the development of projects associated with improving the quality of surface waters, as it deals with most of the urban waste water treatment in the province. It has an analytical laboratory specialising in the control and monitoring of water pollution. Within the scope of the Local Agenda 21, it has supported participatory sustainability processes in over 50 municipalities and it has extensive knowledge of the social agents in the province.
Through the LIFE+ EUTROMED project, it aims to contribute to improving the environment in the province of Granada, by raising farmers’ awareness of the need to support the sustainable use of natural resources.
José Francisco Tarifa Sánchez
Appointed Representative for the Environment
Granada Provincial Council
www.dipgra.es
www.a21-granada.es/
○ Associated Beneficiaries:
University of Granada. Water Institute.
The Research Group MITA, attached to the Water Institute, has ample and demonstrated experience in the development of environmental research and in the field of water in particular.
The group’s contribution to the LIFE+ EUTROMED project entails the scientific monitoring of the project by tracking the progress made and assessing the efficiency of the proposed technology. In particular, it measures the evolution of a number of parameters (such as performance in the elimination of pollutants, the development of microbial populations and the evolution of agronomic indicators) as well as carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of the system.
During the period of time in which the project is being implemented, scientific- technical newsletters are prepared to be distributed among the scientific and academic community.
In addition, there is a cycle of seminars aimed at ensuring technical training for those agents involved in the agricultural sector, including a “General Training Guide” covering the subjects discussed.
Francisco Osorio Robles
Tenured University Professor
Water Institute
University of Granada
Website: http://www.ugr.es/~iagua/
Bonterra Ibérica S.L. is a pioneer and leader in Spain in the manufacture of products for integral soil treatment, particularly for controlling erosion. Since it was founded in 1994, it has developed products and services aimed at restoring the landscape and protecting both the soil and vegetation, as well as providing the necessary technical assistance to ensure the erosion control projects are implemented correctly.
Bonterra Ibérica has been developing different R+D studies and new prototypes to offer a solution to a wide range of erosion problems. Within this framework, it is participating as a partner in the LIFE+ EUTROMED project, mainly in the way of manufacturing the organic plant fibre-based filters that are used to retain the soil, preventing erosion in irrigation channels, and in turn contributing to the treatment of water coming from agricultural sources, as its nitrate content is reduced, thanks to the fact that they help certain plant species to become established. In this way, it plays a part in preventing the eutrophication of the water in the project’s pilot zone.
Valentín Contreras
General Manager
Bonterra Ibérica SL
Website: http://www.controlerosion.es/
Paisajes del Sur S.L. was founded in 1992 to tackle the demand for scenic solutions for public works and forestry work, paying particular attention to erosion control and the battle against desertification in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. Its main sector of activity is the conservation of the natural landscape, through the design, production, restoration and conservation of the environment with a sustainable use of resources.
For years Paisajes del Sur S.L. has been ready to go international and develop R+D projects in different scopes of application, taking the environmental solutions and skills it has acquired over the years to other areas.
Within this framework, Paisajes del Sur SL’s participation in the LIFE+ EUTROMED project mainly entails the installation and maintenance of the plant filter model to be used in controlling pollution from the nutrients of run-off waters in the selected pilot basin. Three models of plant filter have been proposed, which have all been designed to retain moderate erosion in irrigation channels (up to 10% gradient), average (up to 20% gradient) and high (for over 20% gradients) and which are based on the repetition of structures using natural fibre elements that have been manufactured by Bonterra Ibérica, flexible gabions made of multifilament polypropylene filled with stones, steel tips of varying diameter, and native nitrophilous bushy plants that absorb the nutrient pollution.
Elena María Moya García
General Manager
Paisajes del Sur SL
Website: http://www.restauracionpaisajistica.com/
o Co-funder:
Department of the Environment. Regional Government of Andalusia.
This Department prepares and implements government policy regarding the competences of the autonomous community of Andalusia in environmental matters.
Access to website: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/organismos/medioambiente.html
