The Seixe River Basin in southwestern Portugal is located within the Southern Portugal Green Belt covering 254 km2 in an area recognised for its high biodiversity. The SRB, therefore, has several overlapping Nature... [ view full abstract ]
The Seixe River Basin in southwestern Portugal is located within the Southern Portugal Green Belt covering 254 km2 in an area recognised for its high biodiversity. The SRB, therefore, has several overlapping Nature Conservation Instruments: the Natura 2000 sites of Costa Sudoeste and Monchique, the Nature Park of Southwestern Alentejo and the Vicentina Coast, an ‘Important Biodiversity and Bird Area’ and it is partly covered by the National Ecological Reserve. Located within the regions of Algarve and Alentejo, and contained within three municipalities (Aljezur, Monchique and Odemira) the SRB has around 90% of the area under high level protection for its habitats, flora and fauna. In addition, the area is recognised as a possible climate refuge for vertebrates. However, monoculture plantations (mostly eucalyptus, and some pine), along with unsustainable agricultural practices have resulted in the systematic removal of much of the area’s natural vegetation. Consequently, the theoretical rhetoric of sustainability is not being realised in practice. Instead, it is being undermined by economically-driven land-use activities resulting in cumulative long-term ecological and social impacts. These include extensive soil erosion, deregulation of the water cycle and land abandonment, all ultimately leading to high future economic costs for the SRB; costs associated with land restoration and climate change adaptation. Infused with these impacts, particularly in Portugal, are the issues of private land ownership, around 98%, which means low state land ownership. In addition, decision-making regarding management of river basins and landscapes remains sectoral and regionally divided. If sustainable development is the intended long-term process for the SRB, then maintaining current economic activities acts as direct driving factors enhancing the wicked problems of land degradation and climate change. The TerraSeixe, as a bottom-up project, is a partnership between two environmental NGOs that has as its aim the introduction of environmental stewardship as the process for identifying and deciding approaches for protecting biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services within the SRB. To achieve this aim, remediation, adaptation, management and governance approaches to land uses need to be integrated and transdisciplinary, leading to transformational (systemic) changes over the long-term. Methodologies for this purpose, based on studies still to be conducted, will be decided by a strategic partnership platform incorporating the three municipalities concerned, four universities, a local development NGO and the national nature conservation authority. As stakeholders, the mosaic of landowners within the SRB are to be included in public participation processes for identifying integrated approaches for dealing with landscape degradation and climate change, while at the same time considering the need to maintain long-term sustainable socioeconomic activities. Partnerships between land owners and business are being developed and, what is particularly promising so far, is the opportunity for ecological restoration, ecotourism development and agroecologically-based sustainable practices to produce local products all aimed at developing multifunctional landscapes. By taking theory to practice, these activities show great potential for reconciling economic-based development with social and ecological resilience as a balanced approach for conserving terrestrial biodiversity without compromising sustainable development within the SRB. Natura 2000; Partnerships; Participation; Environmental stewardship; Agroecology.
3a. Life on land
