Alvelal Conservation Management Plan
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Conservation Management Plan VCA Registry June 2018 C/ Mayor, 2, Huéscar, Granada www.alvelal.es 1 Conservation Management Plan VCA Registry, 2018 Executive summary This Conservation Management Plan has been developed by Alvelal Association for the VCA Registry. This plan is integrated by an initial diagnosis, which describes the Alvelal territory located in the southeast of Spain, its geology, soils, hydrography, vegetation and fauna, as well as the landscape and land uses throughout history. A second part describes the action plan, with the conservation objectives, the actions to develop those objectives and the indicators we use to measure the success of the plan. The actions explained in this section explain in detail what we intend to do to restore out landscape. In addition to reforestation of natural areas by planting endemic species, we aim to clear /thin out the current vast forests of invasive species, and to increase organic matter in the soil to enhance soil fertility and to increase water retention, both positively impacting biodiversity. Through hydrological corrections we aim to retain water and to create biodiversity hotspots for vegetation, insects, birds and all species to thrive. We will place insect hotels to allow for habitats of different insects in the current monoculture of pines, allowing for pollination of both natural vegetation and productive crops. Huéscar, Granada, Spain, 15th June 2018 Agricultural landscape of the fertile plain of Cullar, Granada C/ Mayor, 2, Huéscar, Granada www.alvelal.es 2 Conservation Management Plan VCA Registry, 2018 Table of Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................... 2 1 Description of the area ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Location and size ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Geology and relief ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Soil .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Water ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Land use ........................................................................................................................................................... 11 History ................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Land use ............................................................................................................................................................ 13 1.3 Owner/manager ........................................................................................................................................... 14 2 Conservation situation ....................................................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Landscapes/ecosystems/habitats ......................................................................................................... 16 Landscape .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Potential Vegetation ...................................................................................................................................... 17 2.2 Wildlife ............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Fauna ................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Protected areas ................................................................................................................................................ 21 2.3 Threats ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 Endangered and vulnerable species ....................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Opportunities ................................................................................................................................................. 29 3 Conservation management ............................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 Our vision ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Strategic objectives .................................................................................................................................. 32 3.3 Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................... 32 3.3.1 Natural Zones ........................................................................................................................................ 32 3.3.2 Farms ........................................................................................................................................................ 35 3.4 Conservation indicators ........................................................................................................................... 37 3.5 Coordination and execution .................................................................................................................... 37 Appendix I. Implementing legislation .............................................................................................................. 42 Appendix II. Literature ........................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix III. Natural Zone Restorarion Plan ................................................................................................ 43 Appendix IV. SWAT C/ Mayor, 2, Huéscar, Granada www.alvelal.es 3 Conservation Management Plan VCA Registry, 2018 1 Description of the area 1.1 Location and size AlVelAl is located in Southern Spain, roughly in between the cities of Granada and Murcia. The AlVelAl- territory covers parts of the autonomous communities of Andalusia and Murcia, which each have several provinces and comarcas -the local denomination for districts. The name AlVelAl relates to the first letters of the comarcas where the initiative started: Altiplano de Granada, Los Vélez and Alto ALmanzora. More recently the comarcas of Guadix and Noroeste de Murcia were added to the landscape. Today, the AlVelAl territory covers more than 1,000,000 hectares of degraded steppe called the Altiplano Estepario. The Altiplano Estepario is surrounded by mountain ranges which form part of the natural parks of Sierra de Castril, Sierra Nevada and the Sierra María-Los Vélez. The towns of Guadix, Baza, Cullar, Huéscar, Caravaca and Vélez Rubio are the largest out of 76 municipalities with in total some 250,000 inhabitants. The highway A-92, running from Puerto Lumbreras to Granada and onwards runs through the middle of the territory. Geology and relief Sixty-two million years ago the continents of Africa and India moved nort h and collided with Eurasia during the so-called Alpine Orogeny. As the crusts of the continents of Europe and Africa moved closer to one another, mountain ranges such as the Alps and those in the Mediterranean were formed by the folding and deformation of undersea material. During this period also the Baetic System was formed, located in the south and east of the Iberian Peninsula. C/ Mayor, 2, Huéscar, Granada www.alvelal.es 4 Conservation Management Plan VCA Registry, 2018 Within the Baetic System a subdivision can be made between the Prebaetic, the Subbaetic and the Penibaetic systems. Geology in Alvelal territory The Prebaetic and the Subbaetic systems consist of materials that come from sediment located in a large geosyncline, almost the size of an entire region, which formed an enormous sea basin before the Alpine Orogeny. This led to the creation of clay and sand deposits. Some 200 million years ago the water underwent severe evaporation, which caused lagoons to form and the consequent depositing of materials resulting from the evaporation. Still a large part of the basin was covered by the sea. Materials such as dolomites and marl developed. Some 100 million years ago a great marine irruption occurred, forming a number of coral reefs and generating a shallow marine environment. As the water receded, deposits of limestone and dolomites were left behind. Around the time of the Alpine Orogeny, the seawater withdrew. Once again leaving lagoons formed by the water accumulated during the preceding period. Followed by another marine irruption, also leading to geological instability which continues till today