The LIFE+ EUTROMED project endeavours to develop a sustainable method for reducing the levels of nitrogen in contaminated surface water flows on agricultural land found in the Mediterranean climate zone.
The project’s main objectives are as follows:
- To promote the establishment of a sustainable method that will combine the implementation of technology based on retaining nitrates (through plant filters) in agricultural land, with additional measures aimed at educating and raising farmers’ and land owners’ awareness about the correct use of fertilisers and irrigation systems.
- To demonstrate the effectiveness of different filter models (based on plant fibres) as well as the most appropriate cost-efficiency ratio of the applied techniques. The calculation of its efficiency will be expressed with regard to its capacity to retain nitrogen from the run-off water that passes through the biofilters, and with regard to its capacity to reduce erosion.
- To facilitate the transmission of the results, by editing a series of practical guides offering standard, low-cost solutions for farmers to install these filters, as well as through integration in networks that convey the experience to other zones in the Mediterranean area with similar problems.
- To involve farmers and agricultural land owners in the conservation and good use of natural and scenic resources through the development of voluntary collaboration mechanisms, the process of which is defined as Land Stewardship.