Organisation requesting funding:

GOB (Grup Balear d’Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa) is a nonprofit making ecological association, which has been working in the Balearic Islands since 1973. The branch which works in Menorca was created in 1977 and now has more than 1,200 members.

Its primary objective is to contribute to the achievement of a sustainable economy, which by implication requires making human activities compatible with environmental values.

Issue of Concern being addressed:

Adaptation to climate change activities in Menorca under the “Custodia Agraria Project” (This project is GOB’s flagship project and has already proved a very successful model. So much so that parts of what GOB has already been doing with the local farms on Menorca is being replicated in other areas of Spain)

Project Overview:

Scientific reports identify a diverse range of climate change effects and the administrations are starting to react to the consequences that these could have on the farming sector. Based on this, the Fundación Biodiversidad/Biodiversity Foundation launched a call for project proposals at national level and GOB presented a 12-month project, which involved working alongside the local farms and supporting them to make the necessary changes to adapt to the effects of climate change. The project was selected and the initiative, “Custodiando el cambio. Resiliencia en la custodia agraria” (Accepting change. Resilience in farm stewardship) implemented between September 2017 and August 2018.

The Menorca Preservation Fund agreed to funding the Fresh Water component of the project.

Project collaborations:

• Biodiversity Foundation
• Consell Insular de Menorca
• Network of volunteers

 

General project objective:

To work with local farms in order to support the necessary adaptation to climate change effects.

 

The projects specific objectives to be funded by the MEPF are:

1. Improvement of rain water catchments and usage, as well as the recovery of traditional rain water collection tanks/wells (old aljibes) at 5 farms.

 

Chronology:

September 2017 to August 2018