An alliance between CREAF and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has made it possible to shape an innovative and pioneer project to return the health before Soils that were degraded and not fertile in Catalonia.
A initiative to restore these soils in poor condition as a result of very diverse causes: from the passage of forest fires over the years, through the impact of certain extractive activities or by the contamination of this natural surface.
In this sense, with this project it has been studied how the application of organic solutions has not only improved the soil healthbut this is also able to retain more carbon, increase fertility and biodiversity, as well as prevent erosion.
An alliance to relive the degraded soils of Catalonia
He Pedraforca It is a very recognized mountain throughout Catalonia, to the point that it is an emblem. What is not so well known is that around the 80s in the pedraforca skirt, mining coal farms were developed that left the environment of the environment very affected. Now they can hardly be seen between the Forest some scars of those damages And the person in charge of getting it was a young Josep Maria Alcañiz, along with Oriol Ortiz and other companions.
The researcher of Creaf and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) received the commission to recover the health of the soil that gave life to the Pedraforca and, thus, applying organic waste to have a fertile soil again, A pioneer soil restoration line was born throughout Catalonia and a research group that still endures and stands out today.
The success of that first collaboration has been the central axis of a prolific collaboration between CREAF and the administration of the Generalitat de Catalunya that has lasted more than 30 years with the aim of recovering many habitats that had very degraded soils, either due to the passage of a fire, due to the impact of extractive activities or by soil pollution. In particular, several protocols for the Catalonia Waste Agency, the General Directorate of Environmental Quality (DGQA) and the Catalan Water Agency and the General Directorate of Mobility Infrastructure, among others have been developed.
These protocols have been applied over time and the impact is palpable: Many soils have improved their biodiversity, their water content and their ability to capture carbon thanks to its application.
Revitalize degraded soils and ecosystems
“Collaboration with this research group has been key to promoting most sustainable restoration practices in mining activities, which have influenced both industry and public policies and have managed to revitalize degraded soils and ecosystems. The protocols that CREAF has developed have been applied extensively, have allowed us extractive
To achieve this milestone, we must highlight the research that has been done since the 90s to CREAF to discover how organic and mineral waste that we generate in the municipalities and cities can be reused with this mission of recovering the health of a land. The remains that were used in the Pedraforca were only the first step of what is now known as organic amendments, which are organic “leftovers” of municipal waste, farms, purification sludge or similar that still retain interesting properties to apply on certain damaged soils and return fertility.
Thus, experts, who are now led by Vicenç Carabassa and Xavier Domene after the Alcañiz star, They design how the “new” soil has to be and what organic amendments have to be applied. They are known as “letter soils” or tech and allow reducing restoration costs between 20% and 50%. Pure circular bioeconomy. Evidence of this success is that FAO has integrated these protocols in its good practices and that, that, more than 70,000 tons of waste have been reused so far.
Among the protocols that are being applied today, one of the best known is the Restocat, developed with the General Directorate of Climate Change and Environmental Quality, which explains how to evaluate restoration measures in mines and their ecological status. So far, it has allowed to monitor more than 800 abandoned mines and establish which areas are priority for its restoration and recovery of the ecosystem once it is decided to close the farms.
Currently, a drone use protocol has been included to also be able to follow the mines that are still active and that It has been applied to 10% of the active mines of Catalonia. This activity and alliance has also allowed an important involvement of the group in the Aggregate Guild of Catalonia and that CREAF is an institutional member of the renowned ‘Spanish Network for Restoration of Mines and Canteras’.