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Education for Sustainability Magazine Autumn · 2016 www.bizkaia21.eus Bizkaia BIZKAIA 21 PROGRAMME, BOOST TO maitea BISCAY’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THE ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT ON THE PLANET CIRCULAR ECONOMY, THE NEW ECONOMY IN THE LAND OF THE IBERIAN LYNX Andoni Canela, passionate about nature TS MEN PHOTO COM LIES WATER LI HIS CAMERA CAPTURES THE BEAUTY OF WILDLIFE AND THEIR HABITATS 04 Against invasive plants, determination and perseverance SUMMARY Natural barriers (mountains, seas…), formerly insurmountable for most species, are today quite ineffective, mainly due to the «globalisation» phenomenon (tourism, trade, transport…) and species from around CONTENTS the world arrive and invade our territories. Once they have acclimatised and settled into their new environment, it is very hard to eliminate them, and sometimes, impossible. There is no magic recipe for Our local environment eradicating them; all we can do is to persevere in controlling and Against invasive plants, determination and perseverance 4 eliminating them. Boost to Biscay’s sustainable development 6 On Planet Earth The Anthropocene: The human footprint on the planet 8 In the land of the Iberian Lynx 11 11 Environmental health Inhabited cities, safe cities 14 Routes The Way of St. James in the Basque Country 16 Get equipped A meeting point for organic farming in the In the land of the Iberian Lynx Basque Country 18 Environmental management Today there are a few more than 300 specimens of Iberian Lynx living in Innovation for sustainability project 24 the wild, under constant threat of extinction. This situation involves local Circular economy, the new economy 26 authorities and citizens to ensure the preservation of this species, as a cornerstone of the Mediterranean forests and the cultural heritage. Photo comments Water lilies. Water plants 30 Interview Andoni Canela: His camera captures the beauty of wildlife and their habitats 34 42 + Sustainable development Living better on less 40 Ecological Do-It-Yourself Practical sustainable farming 42 Practical sustainable farming The rural environment is the heritage of the Basque culture and farmhouse lifestyle that has been traditionally guided by sustainability criteria, since the most important role of those who led it was to ensure its survival. This article offers us a number of tips that can be easily applied in our small farming areas following sustainability criteria. More information and resources available to you BIZKAIA MAITEA is growing on the web… thanks to you 1.eus The articles marked with this sign contain information www.bizkaia2 Publication printed on «friend of the forests», available in digital format. Browse BIZKAIA MAITEA website ecological paper, totally chlorine free, from forests and visit its contents in video, flash or pdf. So simple – belonging to the chain of custody that ensure their just click on each icon to access. sustainable forest management. New contents await you on the web. Visit us if you want to view these new resources. PEFC/14-1-1 www.bizkaia21.eus OUR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT web Combating one of the primary causes of biodiversity loss AGAINST INVASIVE PLANTS, DETERMINATION AND PERSEVERANCE Department of Sustainability and Natural Environment, Biscay Regional Council Natural barriers (mountains, seas…), formerly insurmountable for most species, are today quite ineffective, mainly due to the «globalisation» phenomenon (tourism, trade, transport…) and species from around the world arrive and invade our territories. Once they have acclimatised and settled into their new environment, it is very hard to eliminate them, and sometimes, impossible. There is no magic recipe for eradicating them; all we can do is to persevere in controlling and eliminating them. 4 | Bizkaia Maitea | autumn 2016 | OUR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT vídeo pdf The Bizkaia 21 Programme, strategy and planning of the Biscay Regional Council, has promoted sustainability in the 2005-2016 period BOOST TO BISCAY’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Department of Sustainability and Natural Environment, Biscay Regional Council Biscay has had to address a very complex situation in the last decade. In addition to the challenges it had to face as a territory and a society that needed to update its economic system, restore its natural environment and progress towards social innovation, it has also had to address the difficulties posed by the expected direct impact of the global crisis. However, the Bizkaia 21 Programme, as part of the Regional Council’s integrated strategy and planning, has promoted a sustainability approach during the 2005-2016 period. 6 | Bizkaia Maitea | autumn 2016 | ON PLANET EARTH vídeo web © Manu Océn Tunelboka. Cliffs of Punta Galea (Getxo). A new geological stage THE ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT ON THE PLANET Alejandro Cearreta, Member of the International Anthropocene Working Group and Lecturer in Micropalaeontology at the University of the Basque Country. Human impact has led the Earth to a new stage of its geological history, the Anthropocene, i.e., the Human Era. Introducing materials and unknown elements to date into the planet’s sediments (from products we use in our everyday life, such as «pens» or plastic dolls) has made us active agents of their formation process. We are leaving an indelible mark that will remain for millions of years. ver the past thousand years, hu- of the world’s population today lives in such as cement, aluminium, or plastics, mans have gradually increased cities and the availability of information etc. This means that the last 70 years have our footprint on the planet as through the Internet promotes the global seen an unprecedented change in our re- Owe have created new, increasingly more outreach of the high levels of western lationship with the natural environment, sophisticated cultural and technological consumption; most of the increase in at- and this growing human activity is leav- tools. We already made a very important mospheric greenhouse gases (120 ppm) ing an indelible mark in the geological qualitative leap with the onset of the has occurred in the last decades; at pres- record. Industrial Revolution, but it was from mid- ent, there are more trees in agricultural 20th century onwards that human impact plantations than in natural forests; most The term Anthropocene was initially became a global and accelerated phe- of the total biomass of mammals consists coined by Nobel Prize in Chemistry Paul nomenon worldwide (the so-called Great of humans and domesticated animals; Crutzen and limnologist Eugene Stoermer Acceleration). Since then, the human pop- mining and other human excavations mo- in 2000 to show the intensity of human ulation has tripled (now there are more bilise 4 times more sediment than all the transformation of the Earth’s surface. than 7,200 million people), and consump- world’s glaciers and rivers together; or the Since then, this concept has rapidly en- tion and technology have become the amount of plastics that are produced each tered the scientific and popular literature determining factors that cause our impact year is equivalent to current total human as a vivid expression of the degree of en- on the environment. biomass. All these processes already ap- vironmental change caused by our spe- pear in the geological records as polluting cies on the planet. The possible definition Some examples that can help to clear- substances, the impoverishment of fossil of the concept and its formal acceptance ly illustrate the magnitude of this human remains, variations in sediment accumu- have become a key issue in geology to- footprint on the planet are: More than half lation rates, presence of new materials day. The Anthropocene is a very effective 8 | Bizkaia Maitea | autumn 2016 | concept to express that humanity is of Geology as a science. The Anthropocene changing the Earth’s functioning. is currently geologically very brief, but this does not undermine its value as a Today the Anthropocene is being as- possible geological time, since it has the sessed as a new geological epoch. This advantage of providing a practical mean- analysis involves considering evidence of ing to the wide range of geological mate- contemporary global change and its po- rials that are being formed around us and tential manifestation in the geological on which we live. record. Just as an important task of biolo- gy is to bring order to the complexity of The relevance of this new concept is the biosphere through the classification that it is not based on the first geological of all living things that make it up, the evidence of human activity after its ap- Geological Time Scale establishes the ma- pearance on Earth, but it is the result of jor divisions to classify the 4,600 million the global magnitude, intensity and syn- years of the Earth’s history and all the chronicity of the change caused by our rocks that have been formed during such species on the planet. This means that a long period of time. This Scale can be the Anthropocene starts when our spe- considered the most important formation cies is able to take the planet out of its | autumn 2016 | Bizkaia Maitea | 9 characteristic natural functioning of the past million years. The origins of the Anthropocene can be dated back to 1945, based on the historic event repre- sented by the first explosion of the Trinity nuclear bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and the subsequent radio- active isotopes that were first deposited on the Earth’s surface as a result of at- mospheric nuclear tests carried out since then and until the 1980s. The most dra- matically simultaneous sign of pollution in the mid-20th century had to do with the beginning of the nuclear era and the global dissemination of artificial radioi- sotopes. This planetary enrichment in artificial isotopes as a result of the more pdf than 500 nuclear tests in the atmosphere has created a global marker horizon of Anthropocene sediments.

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