The first participatory meeting to promote land stewardship in public policies brings together 19 entities from the river and wetlands sector
More than 30 participants from public administrations, land stewardship entities, scientific institutions, cooperatives, and companies in the environmental and energy sectors took part in the first sectoral workshop for the integration of land stewardship into public policies, which focused on river and wetland ecosystems.
Held on 30 September, this initial workshop marks the beginning of a series of sectoral meetings that will also address the forestry, agricultural, and urban sectors. Organised under the framework of the LIFE Stewardship project, these workshops will lay the groundwork for the development of the Public Policy Plan for Land Stewardship -a roadmap designed to strengthen the institutional framework of land stewardship in Spain.
SUCCESS STORIES AND KEY CHALLENGES IN THE RIVER SECTOR
This first meeting, dedicated to river and wetland ecosystems, comprised two parts: a presentation of established success stories, and a participatory session to identify the challenges and opportunities that shape the growth of land stewardship in river environments.
Rivers and wetlands are ecosystems of high ecological and social value, playing an crucial role in ecological connectivity, water cycle regulation, and climate change adaptation.
According to data from the 7th Inventory of Land Stewardship Initiatives in Spain (2024), there are currently 386 active stewardship initiatives associated with these ecosystems, 145 of them in Catalonia´s internal basins.
Among the main conclusions of the workshop was the need for a stronger institutional framework that explicitly recognises land stewardship within hydrological planning and water management legislation. Participants also stressed the importance of streamligning administrative procedures and the stablishing stable funding mechanisms.
Another key point identified was the importance of training and professionalising stewardship organisations, and of developing common indicators to enable objective evaluation of their contribution to improving the ecological status of ecosystems.
The workshop also emphasised the value of the diversity among the participating actors involved, each playing an important role in building more inclusive and effective governance. A climate of trust and mutual learning was evident throughout the session, reflected in the willingness of public administrations to open new spaces for dialogue, and of stewardship entities to shared responsibility in conservation efforts.
Finally, participants highlighted that the upcoming renewal of the River Basin Management Plans (2026–2031) offers an excellent opportunity to integrate land stewardship into all hydrological districts. However, they also pointed out that the main challenge lies in ensuring that Hydraulic Public Domain legislation explicity includes provisions recognising and facilitating nature conservation through land stewardship.
LIFE STEWARDSHIP
The overall aim of the LIFE Stewardship project is to use land stewardship-based approaches to boost collaboration involving public and private entities as well as civil society for nature conservation and restoration in Spain, in the framework of the Europe Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and international agreements.
The project is coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, with the participation of Eurosite, the Forum of Land Stewardship Networks and Entities (FRECT), Global Nature Foundation (FGN), Fernando González Bernáldez/ Europarc-Spain Foundation, SEO/BirdLife and Nature Conservation Network (XCN) as partners. It has the financial contribution of the LIFE Programme of the European Union.