The largest project to adapt the Pyrenees to climate change is underway

The Pyrenees are threatened by climate change at an accelerated rate, even more so than other territories. According to the scientific community, the temperature has increased by 30% more than the global average in the last six decades. Mitigating the impacts, amplified by human activities, requires urgent and large-scale action that does not consider borders. This need is the basis for the European project Life Pyrenees4clima, ‘Towards a cross-border mountain community resilient to climate change in the Pyrenees 2024-2031 ‘, in which six other regions from Spain, France and Andorra are also taking part.

Coordinated by the Pyrenean Observatory of Climate Change (OPCC) of the Pyrenees Working Community (CTP), this is a project that will deploy Europe’s first cross-border climate change strategy, the EPiCC, in the local environment. In fact, its commitment to intervention in the territories of the Pyrenees area is one of its great assets. To this end, over the next eight years, 33 pilot cases will be launched thanks to this cross-border collaboration between seven communities: Andorra, Aragon, Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country, Occitania and New Aquitaine. In total, 46 entities from the seven communities will deploy common actions to strengthen resilience in the Pyrenees by applying climate change adaptation measures in several areas of work. The budget is almost 20 million euros, of which 60% is financed by LIFE funds.

14 PILOT CASES IN ARAGON

Aragon will be the territory where the most experiences will be launched, a total of 14. The partners participating in Life Pyrenees4clima are the Department of Environment and Tourism of the Government of Aragon, the Centre for Agri-Food Research and Technology of Aragon (CITA), Fundesa, several CSIC entities (the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, the National Museum of Natural Sciences and the Zaragoza Unit of the National Geological and Mining Institute of Spain) and the Pyrenees-Pyrenees EGTC. In addition, other cross-border entities will be involved in the different pilot cases.

One of the cases already underway is in Formigal, where good ecological restoration practices will be implemented through nature-based solutions. Led by the National Botanical Conservatory of Midi-Pyrénées, it aims to improve knowledge and techniques for ecological restoration of degraded soils using local seeds.

More nature-based solutions will be developed in the Benasque Valley and Panticosa: two pilots will focus on the protective role of forests and/or the construction of simple structures with wood against natural and climatic risks. Led by AECT Pirineos-Pyrénées and the CSIC-Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, they will test how the forest can serve, on the one hand, as protection against avalanches; and, on the other hand, as protection against ground movements, falling blocks, landslides and other natural risks. Work has already begun to collect, describe and inventory the existing solutions in the Pyrenean chain, with the aim of expanding their applicability. In addition, topographic surveys have been carried out using drones with Lidar sensors in the different study areas. The development of an experimental site for tests and trials is also planned, as well as an alert system for emergency situations.

In the headwaters of the Gállego River and in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, the impact of climate change and the vulnerability of high mountain territories will be explored, including natural processes and economic activities. The results will inform possible policy changes for the protection of the natural area and the management of resources, among others.

Another of Pyrenees4clima’s major projects in Aragon is to adapt the mountain economy to climate change. In Jaca and Canfranc, new tourism products will be developed, with shared cross-border resources and adapting the territories to climate change. Led by Fundesa and the ADP, direct connections will be developed between soft and collective mobility offers (bicycle and train) and new sustainable tourism offers, among other actions. This case has identified two major challenges: stimulating the use of the train and structuring a well-thought-out and connected tourism offer. Among others, more agrotourism and accommodation solutions have been proposed for both visitors and seasonal employees, or the revaluation of the large cross-border hiking routes from a gastronomic point of view by promoting local terroirs.

Also in Jaca, a pilot project led by the CSIC’s Pyrenean Institute of Ecology will recreate resilient landscapes, promoting extensive livestock farming, grazing and silvo-pastoral systems. In La Fueva, the aim will be to improve the marketing of extensive livestock farming products. Led by AECT Pirineos-Pyrénées, it will focus on the development of local socioeconomic models with extensive livestock farming and on the reduction of scrubland in the event of forest fires, in order to recover pastures.

In Biescas, Ligüerre de Cinca, Graus and Ara, demonstration experiences led by CITA will be carried out to promote the recovery of traditional agricultural practices and seek emerging opportunities from new crops that are more adapted to climate change in mountain areas. In addition, technical support will be given to farmers in the Pyrenees so that they can develop the cultivation of truffles or aromatic and medicinal plants as an emerging opportunity for diversification.