Favoring the ecological transition in agriculture in the Campo de Cartagena and reducing the impacts at source in the Mar Menor basin, is the objective of the 20 million euro subsidy that the Biodiversity Foundation will allocate to carry out pilot projects of an experimental nature focused on best practices in the agricultural field. The money will be dedicated to research and scientific knowledge. This foundation, under the Ministry for Ecological Transition, has submitted the grant program to the public until the 25th.
This initiative of the Biodiversity Foundation is included in the Framework of Priority Actions for the Mar Menor, linked to restoration and environmental improvement in the agricultural field to contribute to the recovery of the ecological functionality of the coastal lagoon. The Foundation will appreciate that the projects can be replicated and transferred to the productive sector.
Valuation criteria
In the evaluation criteria of the projects that are presented, the strategic criteria focused on the contribution to the agroecological transition and adaptation to climate change will prevail. Likewise, the environmental and socioeconomic criteria related to the reduction of impacts will have a higher score. These include the reduction in the contribution of agrochemical products, along with experimental projects that improve erosion and sedimentation processes, as well as soil health.
It also includes the decrease in the use and demand of water and the improvement of biodiversity. Proposals that focus on priority action areas around the Mar Menor will also be scored, such as those that have a steep slope and suffer high erosion, or those adjacent to and close to the public hydraulic domain.
The scale also includes the contribution to the consolidation, quality and creation of green employment; along with the involvement of young farmers under 41 years of age. The list also includes projects led and developed by women, or those in which they are the beneficiaries.
Professional and inter-professional agricultural organizations and other entities with legal personality within this field will be able to access these subsidies. Likewise, public universities, state and autonomous community research organizations, town halls, private non-profit entities and organizations, and technology centers can attend.
90% of the project cost
The amounts of the aid will range between 300,000 euros and 2 million euros per proposal. The maximum percentage of the subsidy will be 90% of the total cost, and the projects chosen will have to be completed before December 31, 2026. The subsidies are not considered State aid because they are not directed at companies or economic activities.
Pilot projects should focus on diversification and support for crop conversion, promotion of substantial reduction in the use of pesticides and fertilizers, reduction of irrigation returns, runoff and erosive processes on plots through nature-based solutions. , and comprehensive environmental restoration and improvement on farms. “Its ultimate objective is to contribute to restoring the natural balance of the Mar Menor lagoon and making it compatible with the continuity and increased sustainability of agricultural activity,” says the Biodiversity Foundation.
This body plans to promote a set of actions to generate knowledge and disseminate good practices, of a non-economic nature, and that are complementary and synergistic with the precautionary measures issued by the Segura Hydrographic Confederation to preserve the groundwater mass of the Campo de Cartagena, as well as the requirements established in the law for the recovery and protection of the Mar Menor.
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