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– Green infrastructure refers to natural or semi-natural spaces that foster biodiversity and enhance resilience to climate change
– BIOVERA will carry out a comprehensive assessment of three existing green infrastructures to quantify their environmental, economic, and social benefits, and will develop recommendations for the creation of new spaces
Green infrastructure refers to natural or semi-natural spaces — such as urban parks, managed wetlands, or green areas — that are designed and managed to contribute to the conservation and enhancement of biodiversity. In addition, they improve resilience to climate change through features such as rainwater storage and management or temperature regulation. To highlight the value of these spaces and promote greater implementation across the Mediterranean arc and other semi-arid regions of the world, the BIOVERA project was recently launched.
BIOVERA will identify, quantify, and monetise ecosystem services — that is, the environmental, economic, and social benefits provided by an ecosystem — of three pioneering green infrastructures related to the integrated water cycle. In addition, it will develop recommendations on suitable locations and adaptation measures for the future implementation of green infrastructure, with the aim of maximising the provision of ecosystem services.
The spaces to be studied are: Clot de Galvany, a managed wetland supplied with reclaimed water in Elche; La Marjal floodable park in Alicante, which serves both as a recreational area and as a basin for storing rainwater to prevent flooding in the surrounding neighborhood; and artificial aquifer recharge ponds located in the Baix Llobregat area (Barcelona).
The BIOVERA project, led by Cetaqua – Water Technology Centre in collaboration with the Catalan Institute for Water Research-ICRA, will develop an interdisciplinary, robust, and standardized methodology that includes monitoring the ecosystem services provided by these spaces through sensors, on-site sampling, satellite imagery, and citizen science. It will also include the economic valuation of the environmental and socio-economic benefits of these infrastructures. In addition, the project will assess future climate scenarios and their impact on the provision of ecosystem services.
According to Helena Torres, Project Coordinator and Researcher at Cetaqua, “BIOVERA is a significant project because, for the first time, we will be able to demonstrate all the benefits that these green spaces provide to wildlife, flora, and society. This will encourage more public administrations to implement green infrastructure in their territories.”
The BIOVERA project aims to provide practical tools to help public administrations manage, adapt, and plan green infrastructure. To achieve this, it is essential to involve key stakeholders in the development of these tools. Throughout the study, several Communities of Practice (CoP) will be organised to exchange relevant information — both the data generated by the project and the insights contributed by participating stakeholders — including their perceptions, needs, and preferences regarding green infrastructure.
BIOVERA is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO, by its Spanish acronym), through co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, also by its Spanish acronym).
BIOVERA is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO, by its Spanish acronym), through co-funding from the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, by its Spanish acronym).
The opinions and materials presented in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the entities that financially support the project.
