We support GOB Menorca’s Custodia Agraria programme for the next 3 years
Our Steering Committee has approved significant financial support for GOB Menorca’s Agrarian Stewardship programme until 2025, giving them a total amount of €15,000 per year for the next three years. The main motivation of our SC members in committing so strongly to this project has been none other than the firm belief that the implementation of this project is a real lever for change in the island’s agricultural model. It is a programme that covers many areas, among which we particularly value the programme of advice for farmers on how to work more sustainably and be better prepared for climate change. GOB Menorca’s Custodia Agraria project has been running since 2004, and is one of the most successful environmental initiatives focused on the primary sector on the island, both to help and give continuity to this sector, as well as to preserve the mosaic landscape so characteristic of our island, the basis of the Biosphere Reserve.
Custodia Agraria, an initiative aimed at promoting viable and responsible land management
Health, Nature and Proximity
The basis of the Custodia Agraria programme is the land stewardship philosophy. In this case, it translates into the signing of an agreement on good agricultural practices between each farm that joins the programme and GOB.
Through the Custodia Agraria agreements, member farms commit to sustainable farm management, and in exchange, they receive advice on how to better adapt to climate change and produce in a more sustainable way, as well as visibility, volunteer support, materials to implement new practices and training.
In the end, it is an alliance for the preservation of the environment in which we all have our role: the farmer takes care of the ecosystem, GOB helps them in the above mentioned ways, consumers choose products that respect nature, and the administration promotes this approach.
The results are very broad and range from the increase in healthy, local food, diversification of production, improvements in the health of the land, reduction of the carbon footprint, etc. All of these are the result of vital work that conserves nature while caring for our landscape. These voluntary agreements between farmers, landowners and stewardship organisations allow us to open a common platform towards an agricultural model both economically sustainable and positive for environmental conservation.
37 Farms Members of Custodia Agraria
To date, 37 Menorcan farms have joined the programme, which has benefited from more than 180 direct investments in the last 5 years, which GOB Menorca divides into 5 blocks of action: habitat conservation, biodiversity conservation, landscape restoration, soil fertility improvement and water resources improvement:
Due to the pioneering nature of the Farm Stewardship programme, GOB is part of and has been a founding member of numerous local, national and international networks, among which they collaborate and share the knowledge acquired from their territories. At a local level, they are part of the Fòrum d’Entitats del Tercer Sector. At Balearic level, they belong to the Iniciativa per la Custòdia del Territori a les Illes Balears (Initiative for the Territorial Custody of the Balearic Islands). At the national level, it forms part of the Foro de Redes y Entidades de Custodia del Territorio (Forum of Land Stewardship Networks and Entities) and the Plataforma de Custodia del Territriotrio (Land Stewardship Platform). At an international level, it is also a member of the Alliance for Mediterranean Nature and Culture – AMNC.
If beef were produced through farming practices that help diversify the landscape, preserve forest land and emphasize silvopasture techniques, as is the case with the smallholder farms of Menorca’s Custòdia Agrària programme, it would move Earth Overshoot Day by 5 Days.
Earth Overshoot Day
Lastly, another key aspect of the programme, which MeP’s Steering Committee has highly valued when approving this project, is the measurement of the impact of these actions. In this sense, GOB Menorca, through Custodia Agraria, has calculated the ecological footprint of fruit and vegetables (english version) and meat (english version) and is currently working on calculating the ecological footprint of charcuterie. In addition, each year they track bio-indicators on 23 Custodia farms, monitoring butterflies, plants and coprophages.