Session A3: LIFE+ Segura Riverlink, Implementing a Green Infrastructure Approach

Abstract: The Segura River, located in southeastern Spain, is one of the most regulated rivers in Europe, creating severe environmental problems and breaking connectivity. The LIFE + SEGURA RIVERLINK project, cofinanced by the LIFE Program, aims to promote and support the environmental recovery of the Segura River Basin by improving and strengthening the connectivity between natural ecosystems, promoting the conservation of an area with an exceptional environmental value and improving its public use. The main actions include the removal of an unused weir and the construction of eight fish passages, being this a pilot experience in the Segura River Basin and a still uncommon practice in Mediterranean areas. To support these actions, ecological restorations will be implemented in each demonstration site. The target specie of the project is the Luciobarbus sclateri (Southern Iberian barbel), Iberian endemism and the only autochthonous specie in the project. The rest of sentinel species are Pseudochondrostoma polylepis (Iberian nase), Gobio lozanoi (Pyrenean gudgeon) and Alburnus alburnus (Bleak). Monitoring activities will assess the performance of these actions with the hope of validating the Green Infrastructure approach in river basin management and its possible extension to the official River Basin Management Plan of the Segura River Basin. The project also includes the creation of a Land Stewardship Network that seeks to involve different stakeholders in the river management as well as an Environmental Educational Program and a Volunteering Program to promote environmental awareness in society. This project will protect local aquatic and riverine habitats, allow fish migration along an important sector of the Segura River, improve ecosystem services, build a cadre of scientific and social knowledge to improve river management quality and help local and regional governments to comply with EU Water Framework Directive and facilitate the implementation and enforcement of EU policy and legislation on biodiversity conservation