Restoring Iberia’s Landscapes 

In search of climate resilience, communities in Spain and Portugal are restoring ecosystems.

The Iberian Peninsula offers a fascinating patchwork of landscapes, ecosystems, and local cultures. It is a land of contrasts and extremes, of frigid mountains, scorching plains, and balmy coasts, bustling cities and quiet villages, biodiverse wetlands and plastic seas, increasingly prolonged drought and devastating floods.  

Spain, which dominates the Peninsula in size, lays claim to the top spot in several rankings besides just football. Not all of these are boast-worthy. The country is simultaneously the world’s leading producer of olive oil and one of Europe’s most water-scarce countries – a ranking it shares with Portugal.  

It is Europe’s largest exporter of fruit and vegetables and one of its most at-risk of desertification, another unenviable position it shares with Portugal. Desertification threatens up to 74% of Spain’s territory and up to 58% of continental Portugal’s. Spain also has one of the fastest-growing economies in the eurozone and the highest unemployment rate in the EU.  

In both Spain and Portugal, communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, with higher average temperatures, more heatwaves, a decrease in total rainfall (but an increase in heavy daily rainfall), and prolonged droughts. And this is only going to get worse, according to the projections of the European Climate Risk Assessment.  

All these drivers create a perfect scenario for land degradation. In agricultural areas, prolonged droughts dry out the soil, prompting farmers to turn to unsustainable practices like heavy tilling and the overexploitation of water. Floods, should they occur, erode the topsoil and wash away nutrients, leaving farmers with yet another challenge to face. In the forests of Iberia, soaring summer temperatures create tinderbox conditions for massive wildfires. In the villages, towns, and cities, the effects of climate change put strain on civilian access to water, with drought conditions prompting authorities in several regions to ration resources in recent years. Extreme events like floods also create a burden for citizens, who must increase their climate preparedness and resilience. 

These challenges require solutions. Across Spain and Portugal, communities are facing up to changing climate realities and social change. From farmers in southern Spain and Castilla-Leon to villagers in Extremadura and Portugal, to authorities and researchers in Catalonia and the Basque Country, these are some of their stories.  

The Social Tree 

In the Altiplano Estepario of southeast Spain, olive and almond farmers are having to adapt to new climate and social realities. Here, increased adverse climate events like drought in combination with decades of unsustainable farming practices like heavy tilling threaten to tip the scales on the health of the local soil towards desertification.  

To respond to these challenges, some local farmers are turning to regenerative agriculture, a type of farming that, as the name suggests, aims to give back to nature rather than simply extract from it.  

One such a person is Andrés Pío Vallés Opere, an agricultural engineer and olive oil company owner based in the small town of Campo Cámara, who took REVOLVE to visit one of his regenerative olive groves during the autumn harvest in November 2024. 

Pío has adopted a no-till approach to his land, which preserves the topsoil and boosts its overall health, water retention capacity, and erosion resilience. He also abstains from chemical insecticides and fungicides and returns as much organic matter to the soil as possible, for example by letting pruned branches decompose naturally on the ground.    

For Pío, it’s not only about giving back to nature: “It’s about trying to ensure that all of the economic returns generated by the farm stay in the area so that we create a circular system, which is also very important in regenerative agriculture – to reinvest in the local territory.” 

Speaking to REVOLVE during the harvest, he added: “The olive tree is one of the trees that generates the most work, it requires physical maintenance. This means that our company can employ eight to 10 people year-round. That’s why I say the olive tree is the most social one there is. We want to make sure that the people in the region can earn enough money to stay here so that the villages don’t empty even more.” 

We want to make sure that the people in the region can earn enough money to stay here so that the villages don’t empty even more.

– Andrés Pío Vallés Opere, agricultural engineer.

An hour’s drive away, Miguel Gómez Romero toils away every day on his terraced almond plot near the village of Ferreira, which sits in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. He has witnessed numerous changes over the decades. Some of which are positive, many are less so.  

“Before, we used to till the land a lot more, but now we don’t till it so much and we sow cereals,” he told REVOLVE at his plot, not far from Guadix. With guidance from his son, an agricultural technician, Gómez has switched his farming practices to include more regenerative elements. 

I’m the youngest farmer here, and I’m 70.

– Miguel Gómez Romero, almond farmer.

“But the village, it’s a lost cause. There are no youngsters, there’s no one. I’m the youngest farmer here, and I’m 70. I don’t know what will happen in the next 10 years,” Gómez said, adding that he hoped some change could be brought about. “But things don’t look great.” 

The efforts of Gómez and Pío are being bolstered by a much wider network of like-minded people collaborating as part of the AlVelAl association.  AlVelAl is recovering ecosystems, encouraging regenerative farming, and reviving economic and social opportunities across the territory with a holistic 20-year landscape restoration plan. The small actions of each of its participants strengthen the overall endeavour to return a sense of inspiration to local communities.  

These efforts are supported by the EU-funded project GOV4ALL, which focuses on long-term sustainable soil health solutions, business, and governance models. With GOV4ALL, the Altiplano Estepario region can build connections internally and externally through its links with similar initiatives in Menorca, France, and Greece. The project also acts as a conduit between local actors and decision-making bodies at regional, national, and EU levels. 

Cooperation across borders 

Climate adaptation strategies are also underway in the forests and countryside of western Iberia as communities in Central Portugal, Baixo Alentejo, and Extremadura come together to design and exchange resilience plans. Temperatures here are set to rise in the coming decades, and while soil erosion is an issue for farmers, too, the primary concern, especially in Central Portugal and Extremadura, takes the shape of wildfires. 

In a bid to reduce the risk of large rural fires, local authorities and institutions in Central Portugal are pursuing solutions in the form of Integrated Areas for Landscape Management (AIGP) strategies, which seek to make land more resilient to wildfires through landscape transformation, species reconversion, and territorial revitalisation. Given the social fabric of the local area, these solution pathways specifically target agricultural and forestry sectors.  

The AIGP approach is grounded in an integrated territorial strategy that addresses the need for effective landscape planning and management. Examples of some viable strategies being put to the test in the region include agroforestry business models, which interrupt large swathes of forest, introducing productive firebreaks that both lower the risk of wildfires and provide a source of income for local villagers. This last point is crucial to the methodology because, as Fernando Pulido, Professor of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Extremadura (UEX), pointed out to REVOLVE, “fires cannot be fought without people.”  

“Fires cannot be fought without people.”

– Fernando Pulido, Professor of Forestry and Conservation, University of Extremadura.

Another tactic local partners of the EU-funded project RESIST are pursuing in this area of the peninsula has been dubbed Village Condominiums, which brings stakeholders together in towns and villages with the aim of creating 100-metre buffer zones around their peripheries, a kind of castle’s moat against wildfires. “By integrating safety and ecological restoration, Village Condominiums promote sustainable development and long-term resilience in rural areas,” local partners explained. 

Relevant solutions are to be shared with Baixo Alentejo, further south in Portugal, and Extremadura, across the border in Spain, as part of a framework of lighthouse and twin regions created by the RESIST Project. These efforts are not challenge-free. On both sides of the border, project partners identified the need to improve engagement with local communities, particularly as much of the land is privately owned.  

Early warning systems 

RESIST is also active in Catalonia, where partners are developing adverse weather early warning systems to help emergency managers anticipate and effectively manage increasingly frequent and severe weather-related crises caused by climate change. Local partners in Catalonia are also improving governance frameworks to strengthen civil protection and community resilience by promoting inclusive participatory processes.  

Demonstration activities in the Catalan municipalities of Blanes and Terrassa focus on preparing the local population and city authorities for the multi-hazard challenges of climate change that they are already facing, such as flash floods or forest fires. Local RESIST partners focus on promoting human well-being and local security with a social lens on disaster management.  

“Numerous examples of disasters have shown that populations living in vulnerable situations are more likely to suffer the negative impacts of a disaster and face greater challenges in recovering from it,” Maria Cifre-Sabater, an environmental anthropologist and senior researcher at the CareNet research group at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), told REVOLVE. 

To this end, they are integrating an inclusive risk communication methodology into their demonstration to help mitigate the link between climate and social vulnerability and ensure that everyone receives better support and assistance before, during, and after a disaster. These multi-hazard early warning systems and governance frameworks are also being tested and implemented in Baixo Alentejo (Portugal), in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, as part of the RESIST project’s twin regions scheme.  

Turning to technology 

Moving to the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, the vast region of Castilla-León shares social and environmental challenges with its neighbours on both sides of the border – Extremadura and Central Portugal.  

Agriculture is one of the region’s strongest economic activities. However, rural depopulation and an ageing population pose a challenge to sustainable landscape management, leading to the abandonment of the primary sector – and with it, the land. This creates a perfect scenario for forest fires such as the one that hit the Sierra de La Culebra in Zamora in the summer of 2022, which burnt 30,000 hectares and went down in the history of the most serious fires in the peninsula this century. 

Local farmers – those who resist – face escalating challenges from climate change, including longer summers, milder winters, and an increase in pests previously controlled by harsher winters. To counter these threats, they are turning to systemic adaptation to combat environmental degradation and promote sustainable development. 

Hortafercar Sociedad Cooperativa – a horticultural cooperative based in Segovia – is using more resilient seed varieties and working with the CARTIF technology centre to integrate advanced technological solutions into its farming practices, thanks to a collaboration with the EU-funded Regions4Climate (R4C) Project.  

By introducing temperature control systems and humidity sensors, farmers can anticipate and mitigate potential plant diseases. “The more data you have, the more accurate your decisions will be,” Juan Carlos Álvarez, manager of Hortafercar Sociedad Cooperativa, told REVOLVE. “We can anticipate possible plant diseases by having data on humidity and temperature,” Álvarez pointed out. This allows them to better manage their crops, knowing when to ventilate the greenhouses or take other preventive measures.  

“We can anticipate possible plant diseases by having data on humidity and temperature.”

Juan Carlos Álvarez, Hortafercar Sociedad Cooperativa.

R4C local partners are testing solutions to breathe new life into the rural economy by fostering social and economic initiatives that create sustainable job opportunities, to make rural areas more attractive and viable for future generations. 

Further north in the peninsula, in the Basque Country, the context is different, but the impacts of a changing climate are also visible. The region is working with the support of R4C Project to enhance natural resilience against climate impacts, improve biodiversity, and serve as a model for other regions confronting similar challenges. “Our participation in these projects allows us to identify, design, and implement funding tools for climate adaptation,” Mari Mar Alonso, Director of Climate Action at Ihobe (Basque Environmental Agency), told REVOLVE. 

“We focus on meeting the specific needs of the Basque territory while promoting nature-based adaptation measures,” Alonso added. One standout example is the restoration of the San Lorenzo lagoon, which isn’t just about ecological repair, it’s a multi-faceted approach to improving biodiversity, reducing flooding, and capturing blue carbon. 

A just restoration 

Restoration initiatives are proliferating across Iberian landscapes. The ones gathered here have something else in common: they all follow a Just Transition Framework, aimed at addressing climate change through a human-centred approach.  

The Just Transition Framework ensures inclusive climate adaptation by involving key stakeholders, especially vulnerable groups. It addresses inequalities in climate impacts and response capacities while promoting fair burden-sharing. Achieving climate resilience requires transforming how we live, work, and govern to adapt effectively while cutting emissions and resource use. 

Through this approach, the regions are not only tackling climate risks but also fostering a fair and resilient society where communities, landscapes, and traditions can thrive for generations to come.