Case, Environment & Climate Change
Improvement and protection of the dune system in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area
To mitigate the effects of climate change on its coasts, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) implemented a project to improve and protect the dune system of metropolitan beaches with recreational use, the most visited public places in Catalonia. Taking place in the Llobregat delta, the project was carried out along 17 km of coastline, running through the municipalities of El Prat de Llobregat, Viladecans, Gavà and Castelldefels, and counted with the active participation of citizens from the beginning.
The project won the New European Bauhaus 2022 award in the “Reconnecting with nature” category.
Tags: Barcelona metropolitan area ; Environment ; Metropolitan areas ; Restoration ; Dune, Climate resilience, Coast, Ecosystems, Participatory process
Challenges addressed
The coastline of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, with its 42 kilometers of metropolitan coast, which means 30 km of beaches, distributed among eight municipalities, plays an important role in the socio-economic landscape as a recreational place and economic driver.
But this densely populated area is confronted to a high level of pressure from human activities due to its high logistical, urban, and tourist value. Over the last decades, the eradication of most of its coastal ecosystems that acted as natural barriers against storms and erosion such as dunes, combined with the acceleration of climate change, especially the extreme weather events it provokes, exacerbated the beaches’ loss of sand and regression.
Furthermore, making people understand the need for beaches conservation and ecosystem restoration as a solution to the regression of the coastline proves difficult, as many no longer perceive beaches as natural areas.
Main objectives
To tackle these challenges, the AMB carried out a project that aimed to strengthen the beaches’ sustainability and resilience by restoring the dune systems as nature-based solutions to cope with beach regression and extreme weather events and to improve biodiversity. Apart from natural heritage, the project also has an aesthetic objective: helping recover the local landscape, restoring its role as a place to resource oneself and reconnect with nature by improving the infrastructure and promoting services that respect and highlight the value of these natural areas. Finally, it also aims to change the perspective of citizens on beaches, raising their awareness on these spaces and their values to foster the reconnection with nature and strengthen our links with our environment.
Facts
Project type Improvement and protection of the dune system
Partnership Barcelona Metropolitan Area
Funding 650.000 EUR (since 2014)
Start date 2014- ongoing
Website Project’s page on AMB official website
Project description
To achieve its objectives, the AMB carried out actions to restore and manage the dune areas as natural areas on the metropolitan beaches while maintaining their use as areas for recreation and leisure activities fostering public participation, and promoting knowledge, awareness, and intervention in these spaces.
It first studied the dynamics of the coastline and biodiversity along with expert scientists in the field. It then designed a list of interventions to be carried out together with specialists from various disciplines involved in the integrated management of the beaches and implemented them. These interventions included, among others: dune restoration, improvement, and management; installation of safer, more comfortable, inclusive, and healthier infrastructure; quality control system and management spaces; and communication activities. It also carried several activities aimed at the general public such as educational, citizen science, participatory, regeneration, and awareness projects.
Impact and results
The project has had an inspiring impact. Over the years, the perception of the beaches’ quality by visitors has been rising continuously thanks to:
- 9 km of 17 km where dune recovery interventions took place
- 115,000 m2 of dune construction and/or reinforcement
- 12,000 m of protection enclosures installed around the dune areas
- 150,000 kg of non-native invasive species eliminated, occupying an area of 250,000 m2
- 15,000 individuals of native psammophilous vegetation planted
- 1,000 signs to protect the dunes installed
- 15 information panels to raise awareness towards the need to protect and restore the ecosystem installed
The project also successfully raised the citizens’ awareness: 1,356 activities (citizen science, participation, promotion, dissemination) were organised to which 28,877 people participated. The fauna viewer on the AMB website has received 76,012 observations of 371 different species of fauna by residents in areas near the metropolitan beaches.
Publications & main documents
- Video presenting the project (English)
- Quality control system and management spaces (Catalan)
- Web for dissemination and participatory activities (Catalan)
- Web for the technical management of beaches (Catalan)
- Press dossier (Catalan)
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