Land Stewardship in Bosque Metropolitano Madrid

Land stewardship is an instrument to involve users and owners of undeveloped land in the conservation of the natural, cultural and landscape values and resources of a given area.

It is a tool recognised in the Law 42/2007 on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity that has more than half a million hectares associated with it in Spain, and allows the management of land of high natural value, including agricultural ecosystems.

In the city of Madrid, the Metropolitan Forest project aims to develop a green belt around the municipality that will contribute to the rebalancing of the city, the reduction of CO2 emissions, the fight against climate change, and the ecological and landscape restoration of degraded areas.

To this end, the City Council's Directorate General for Strategic Planning is planning conservation, recreational use, environmental education and agricultural and livestock development activities that will be articulated through a broad process of land stewardship in different neighbourhoods of the capital.

In the Madrid neighbourhood of Valverde, to the north of the municipality, there are privately owned lands, and others in the hands of public administrations or companies that have already expressed their interest in forming part of this ambitious project.

The initiative we are now presenting to you is intended to provide guidance to owners of undeveloped land in Valverde who are interested in learning about this public-private working model.

The project will organise specific participation activities, oriented towards advice on aid, innovation, development of new crops and agronomic itineraries; financing of environmental improvement measures on farms (e.g. transfer of plants for plantations, installation of beehives, green roofs...); support in commercialisation (marketing, attendance at fairs, promotion through publications and events).