Project summary:

 

The recent expansion of the semi-arid climate in the Alentejo and the growing impact of climate change requires local adaptation. The increase of the native forest represents a strategy in the ecosystem since it increases the resiliency and ecosystem services by increasing the organic material in the soil, carbon and nitrogen, biodiversity, water infiltration, etc; and decreases susceptibility to desertification. For this reason, large areas have been reforested with native species of oak and cork oak in Alentejo, but with a low success rate.

 

The objective of Adapt For Change is to reduce the cost-effectiveness of reforestation through an innovative approach:

• Developing a model that points which areas: 

i) may be readily regenerated at low cost;

ii) should be subject to assisted reforestation, with the support of several techniques; iii) must be held by alternative activities because of the difficulty in the reforestation. By tallying efforts and energy to each site through knowledge of their ecology substantially lowered the cost-effective, improving long-term survival rates.

 

Taking into account the objectives of all stakeholders in order to ensure compliance with national policies (such as ENAAC) and international (such as the Convention of Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification Change) achieving the goals of the owners, the capacity of authorities the best local reforestation practices. The involvement of stakeholders will create sensitivity and technical capacity to ensure the sustainability of project activities, including soil conservation demonstration actions and planned water.

 

Having regard to the most current science semiarid Ecology - developed by the team, as well as the knowledge acquired in the past with successive reforestation, whose characterization, including the degree of success, will be the first time gathered in a geographic database. Taking into account the knowledge of neighbors, to transfer the best practices observed in the historical semiarid for the current semiarid where will occur in the future the greatest impacts of climate change.

 

Finally available to the public all the results of the project in the most useful ways, including through workshops for stakeholders, publication of a book with best practices and with a site and model developed for use on mobile devices.