MENORCA PRESERVADA

We aim to support Menorca’s primary sector in its transition to Sustainable Agriculture

The primary sector is a key element not only when it comes to providing food for the population, therefore food sovereignty, but also to maintaining the landscape, tackling climate change, diversifying the economy, structuring the territory and society of the rural world in a sustainable way, maintaining its cultural traditions.

The environmental problem

In Menorca, over 70% of the land is under farm management yet approximately 95% of the production is currently forrage, mostly dedicated to feed the cows that produce milk, our main production activity, which has led us to locally producing 90% more milk than what we consume on Menorca, which is exported in its entirety and not sold locally, giving rise to a totally incoherent situation. To date, this production model is no longer profitable for the primary sector nor sustainable for our landscape, making it’s economic solvency highly dependent on external support and also, less resilient to climate change.

 

The agricultural sector is the custodian of Menorca’s mosaic landscape

Our agricultural sector is directly responsible for the preservation of Menorca’s mosaic landscape and, as an island, they are facing critical environmental challenges:

  • High water pressure and rising temperatures that increase the risk of droughts and fires.
  • The lack of resources and effective support to diversify their produce and/or to transition to more sustainable practices, which puts their economic viability at risk.
  • Limited use of native species that contribute to the enhancement of biodiversity and are more resistant to the climatic conditions.
©SEOLIVES

OUR MISSION:

By developing “model farms”, we want to holistically enhance Menorca’s agricultural sustainability, ensuring the ecological integrity of Menorca as a Biosphere Reserve while bolstering the economic resilience of the local farming community and the production of high quality, local produce. We aim to support the economic and environmental viability of local farms, increasing the resilience of the soil through the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. Additionally, we aim to improve the biodiversity of our natural environments and encourage the use of native species.

 

OUR GOALS:

  • Support the creation of a “Pilot Farm” in sustainable agriculture, assisting it in its transition process towards the organic certification of its farm, so that it can serve as a model and learning base for other farms in Menorca.
  • Build relationships with all the key stakeholders in the local produce sectors and identify ways of further supporting an increase in local produce consumption and sustainable farming.
  • Create a task force / think tank of local entities that promotes and catalyses Menorca’s agro-ecological transition, with the capacity for identifying effective and long-term solutions in sustainable farming.
  • Identify gaps and develop potential projects and funding to boost and scale-up our impact.
  • Deliver on hand technical consultations to the farms that have participated in our MENORCA PRESERVADA 2-year training programme, encouraging them to effectively put into practice the lessons learned.
  • Encourage consumers to buy locally and sustainably produced food.

 

OUR EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

  • Biodiversity improvement: monitoring species counts and habitat assessments to document the positive impacts on local fauna and flora, including promotion of native species to enhance ecosystem resilience.
  • Soil health improvement: monitoring increases in soil organic matter and nutrient levels, thereby improving soil structure and fertility.
  • Rainwater retention capacity of the soil.
  • Resilience against climate change and water scarcity of farms.
  • Financial stability through improved turnover for local produce.

 

OUR IMPACT:

Since 2017 Menorca Preservation has developed several projects focused on our Land pillar, through which we have achieved:

 

Awards for our “MENORCA PRESERVADA” Training Programme:

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