NEW AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BASQUE GOVERNMENT AND THE UNIVERSITY OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY TO ENHANCE AND PROMOTE BASQUE NATURAL HERITAGE
- Environment Minister Iñaki Arriola and Nekane Balluerka, rector of the University of the Basque Country, have signed a collaboration agreement through to 2020.
- The UNESCO Chair and the University of the Basque Country (UPV) will assess the Basque Millennium Ecosystems with a particular focus on areas within the Natura 2000 Network and the Urdaibai Reserve.
On Monday July 23rd the Department of the Environment and the University of the Basque Country (UPV) signed an agreement to work jointly on researching and promoting the natural heritage of the Basque Country. The agreement, signed by Environment Minister Iñaki Arriola and UPV rector Nekane Balluerka, formalises the ongoing collaboration between the two entities to improve environmental management and sustainability and to showcase the natural spaces of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
The UPV’s contribution is implemented by the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development and Environmental Education. The latter’s research and training are geared towards understanding and solving sustainable development issues in the Basque Country, particularly in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve—an area which it is hoped can be used as a testing and demonstration ground in that regard.
During the signing event on the UPV campus in San Sebastián, both Iñaki Arriola and Nekane Balluerka highlighted the importance of “collaboration between the Government and the University to protect and improve knowledge of natural spaces and thus guarantee sustainable development”.
The main thrust of the agreement addresses the implementation of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in the Basque Country by the UNESCO Chair. Specifically, measuring the direct and indirect contributions of natural systems to human wellbeing (services), resource provision, environmental regulation, knowledge provision and human enjoyment. The initiative therefore aligns perfectly with the 4th Environmental Framework Programme of the Basque Country 2020, which seeks to make human development compatible with sustainability and natural environment conservation by integrating environmental considerations across policy areas and fostering co-responsibility for improving the environment among socio-economic stakeholders.
The initiative has an international reach thanks to the global network of UNESCO chairs and biosphere reserves as well as participation in relevant UN forums.
A three-year agreement, and beyond
The objectives of the agreement relative to ecosystem services are to improve knowledge, to study the contribution of the Natura 2000 Network, to identify priority actions and to assess actions to compensate for biodiversity loss, among others. Specific work in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve will include implementation of the ecosystem services assessment methodology and the MaB programme (improving relationships between people and the natural environment) as well as studying how the area has developed in socio-economic terms.
The Department of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Housing will provide the UPV’s UNESCO Chair with annual funding of 95,000 euros to implement these actions. The agreement is valid until December 2020 and may be extended for another four years thereafter.
