Growing food to sustain lives and livelihoods without causing harmful effects is a challenge, especially in the Mediterranean region. Increased collective awareness of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution demand that business-as-normal behaviours in the agricultural sector shift dramatically. Science tells us that a transition to a low-carbon sustainable pathway is possible, yet the question remains: how? Seeking solutions by observing existing relationships and avoiding the perpetuation of degrading patterns requires adaptation and innovation. SEACURE, an EU-funded programme, steps forward on this pathway, steering behavioural change and implementing restoration through prevention, reduction of nutrient pollutants and remediation solutions.   

Soil to Sea 

Soil is the non-renewable resource that currently supports 95% of global food production. Addressing the state of soil health, important indicators for people and ecosystems can be revealed. So, how is the state of soil in the Mediterranean? The answer is that the Mediterranean is the most susceptible region to soil degradation and desertification in all of Europe. Decades of pollution from agricultural activities coupled with inadequate wastewater treatment in attempt to grow more food at a faster rate have resulted in a cascade of negative impacts from stimulating climate change and biodiversity loss to the pollution of natural ecosystems. These consequences are exacerbated by unsustainable management practices, increasing population, rapid land-use changes, associated socio-economic activities and climate change. 

A common practice in growing food is an attempt to improve soil quality through the application of additional nutrients in the hope that it will result in consistent, healthy harvests. However, nitrogen and phosphorus additives found in fertiliser products move through the soil and travel to rivers, which then flow into the sea. As a result, these nutrients can be detected in the water that comes from sewage treatment plants and lead to an imbalance in the aquatic ecosystem that can create eutrophication. 

The good news is that it is possible to evolve and change destructive patterns. Innovative policy and strategies can help to establish the signal to incentivise a transition away from harmful food growing practices. For example, the Farm to Fork strategy, as part of the European Green Deal, has set the goal to reduce fertiliser use thereby reducing nutrient losses from both organic and mineral fertilisers by at least 50% by 2030. To help realise this goal, the launch of SEACURE is establishing solutions to prevent, reduce and remediate nutrient pollution along the land-river-sea system in the Mediterranean basin. Mitigating excess nitrogen and phosphorus reduces soil degradation, eutrophication, algal blooms, and remediates ecosystem imbalances.  

The underlying key to success in addressing soil to sea health is to truly understand the connections that exist throughout the ecosystems. Studying the flow of excess nutrients is actually an examination of relationships, the effects of the chemicals as they move through a landscape: through the terrestrial system to rivers and all the way to the sea. SEACURE sets out to demonstrate and scale up innovative solutions to prevent, reduce and remediate nutrient pollution through sustainable land practices, improved wastewater treatment, and nature restoration actions.  

In recognition of the potential for negative impacts, one very important solution is to simply avoid mineral fertilisers. Alternatives do exist, such as promoting precision farming practices and using nutrients only as needed, or by introducing perennial crops to prevent nutrient loss and improve soil health. There are also tailor-made fertilisers (TMF) available, derived from organic livestock waste, as well as fertigation practices which use nutrient-enriched water from human or livestock sources.  

Nature-based solutions (NBS) is another element being considered by SEACURE. A deep understanding of natural living systems reveals insights to inspire innovation. Phytoremediation, for example, can be applied to use microalgae to support wastewater treatment systems, further reducing the nutrient loads.  Other strategies to be tested vary from creating artificial wetlands, where water from wastewater treatment plants is diverted to plants and bacteria to perform a purification function, to biological denitrification which uses bacteria to remove nitrates from the water. SEACURE will demonstrate how these solutions can be restorative and support reaching goals and targets for the region. 

SEACURE also addresses the relationship of our natural world with our political spheres. Over the course of four years, the project will focus on six territorial units: Mar Menor lagoon and Central Catalonia in Spain, Po delta and Esino river in Italy, and Axios river delta and Thessaly plain in Greece. The project will upscale the effective strategies at regional level and replicate them across the Mediterranean and other sensitive European basins. In addition to studying the impact of the programming, partners will be advancing a system change by working towards policy adoption, building awareness, capacity development and increasing availability of funding. 

Photo by Antonio Lopez on Unsplash

When we grow together, we change together 

SEACURE is funded through the Horizon Europe Programme with 25 partners from all over Europe: In Catalonia, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Food of the Generalitat de Catalunya, CREAF, the Catalan Water Cluster, the Asociació l’Era and MedWaves. Each partner operates together, in a balanced relationship, to effectively address the challenge with innovative solutions. The official kick-off Meeting of the project took place in Vic Spain 16-17 October, organised and hosted by Beta Tech Centre.

As an active partner, MedWaves is leading activities related to the dissemination, communication, exploitation and IPR management. The truth is that many people do not understand the challenge or recognise opportunities for alternative, innovative solutions. Therefore, MedWaves will be designing and implementing measures to connect the knowledge that comes from the outputs of the programming to general audiences and targeted stakeholders.  

MedWaves is also the lead partner responsible for certain tasks related to other work packages which focus on co-defining the context of Territorial Units and reviewing previously implemented solutions. MedWaves is experienced and committed to stimulating positive change throughout the region. The centre is facilitating access to and availability of funding to support preparing the ground for regional scale-up.  

During the launch event, Benjamin Van Doorslaer Policy Officer, Directorate-General AGRI, framed the challenge saying: “More than 60% of soils in Europe are considered unhealthy due to current management practices, pollution urbanisation and the effects of the climate change.”  Lorenzo Proia, Project Coordinator explained how “this project is a joint demonstration of approaches and solutions. It’s very challenging but this interaction is very interesting.”  

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