World Soil Day: Urban Klima 2050 promotes practices for soil health and combating climate change

05/12/2024

Neiker and the Vitoria-Gasteiz Environmental Studies Centre (CEA) are working on monitoring the carbon content in soil and the restoration of degraded landscapes.

The LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project wants to highlight the actions being carried out in the Basque Country to improve the health of soils and increase their capacity to mitigate climate change as part of World Soil Day 2024, which this year highlights the importance of measuring, monitoring and managing soils. To do so, we contacted Óscar del Hierro Cerezo, a researcher at Neiker's Natural Resources Conservation Department, and Juan Vilela Lozano, a forest engineer and landscaper at CEA, to talk about their work and how they are contributing to the theme chosen by the United Nations for this year's World Soil Day through the pilot projects they are leading.

 

Neiker: measuring organic carbon in soil

Neiker is leading the soil sampling as part of Urban Klima 2050 in order to analyse the effect that different green infrastructure interventions have on the carbon content of soils. Óscar del Hierro Cerezo explained these actions and their objectives.

Question: What do you hope to achieve?

Answer: The long-term objective is to assess whether interventions contribute to improving/increasing the carbon content of soils. The aim is to increase the organic carbon in soil, by reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, thereby contributing to mitigating climate change.

Currently, there are several ways to quantify organic carbon and its variability in soils: by direct measurement, modelling or remote sensing. The Urban Klima 2050 project opted for direct measurement, i.e. sampling soil on site and then analysing the samples in the laboratory. Although the direct method is more conventional, it will allow us to capture the spatial and temporal variability of soils, identify what causes changes in carbon stocks (e.g. different agronomic or site management practices), quantify the atmospheric CO2 fixed in soils, and improve the different estimation models currently used, thereby reducing the uncertainty of calculations.

Question: How important is it to have this information?

Answer: The results obtained by the project provide valuable information for devising and validating methodologies for estimating changes in carbon stocks attributable to implementing certain land management practices.

Developing a method that adequately combines direct (sampling) and indirect (modelling and remote sensing) soil measurements could reduce the high level of costs associated with sampling and analysis, and reduce uncertainty when quantifying them. It is also important that this is done transparently, using a robust method under the certification and standards set by the EU (certification framework).

 

CEA: recovery of the area around Jundiz (Vitoria-Gasteiz)

At the same time, the Vitoria-Gasteiz Centre for Environmental Studies (CEA), in collaboration with the City Council, is leading the restoration of the area around Jundiz Park, one of the sites where Neiker takes soil samples before and after any interventions, which had become severely degraded by uncontrolled dumping and soil compaction. The project is described by Juan Vilela Lozano.

Question: What problems were there in the area around Jundiz in terms of soil?

Answer: The area around the Jundiz industrial estate had a number of abandoned public spaces that had been used for landfills and inert construction materials, and was subsequently degraded by uncontrolled surface dumping and other illegal activities. The starting point was fragmented landscapes, dominated by grey infrastructure, and their heritage, natural and identity values had been completely eroded. The soils there were in poor condition for a number of reasons: compaction, loss of organic matter, contamination by metals and organic compounds, etc.

Question: What role do you want the soils in Jundiz Park to play in the future?

Answer: After a gradual restoration process, focused primarily on restoring the health of the soil and its ecological functions, a new topography and green infrastructure aimed at creating a variety of ecosystem services was put in place. The services prioritised were noise reduction (earth dams), carbon sequestration (both in soil and plantations) and lower pollution (atmospheric and soil pollution through phytoremediation plots).

All of the above have contributed in the fight against climate change and in recovering the quality of the surrounding landscape. In the future, other services will increase, such as public use (through the network of paths that connects towns, the park itself and the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz) and biodiversity (e.g. birds associated with crops and amphibians that breed in the various temporary ponds that have been created).

 

Urban Klima 2050: seven pilot projects

The LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project has implemented seven pilot projects through Action C.4.2 Key green infrastructure for improving urban-rural connection and the resilience of the territory. These projects have been spread across the three provinces, and range from restoring degraded soils to classifying soils according to their agrological capacity, and highlight the importance of green infrastructure as a key tool in the resilience of the territory.

In addition to the pilot projects for recovering natural spaces in Tonpoi in Bermeo, promoting ecological agriculture in Aramangelu/Basaldea Park in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and restorating Mount Oberan in Donostia/San Sebastian by planting native species, Urban Klima 2050 has deployed a cross-cutting action, whereby Neiker takes soil samples from each site to analyse the effect that these actions have on the carbon content of the soil.

The actions taken by Urban Klima 2050 not only underline the importance of soil as a vital resource for the sustainability of the territory, but also as a crucial element in the fight against climate change. The project has continued to make progress in measuring and restoring soil as an essential strategy for climate adaptation and mitigation, thereby positioning the Basque Country as a benchmark in sustainable soil management.