Advancing Climate Resilience in the Canary Islands: Insights from the NATALIE Project on Nature-Based Solutions

Advancing Climate Resilience in the Canary Islands: Insights from the NATALIE Project on Nature-Based Solutions

 

Jorge Martínez León¹, Carlos Baquedano¹, Miguel Ángel Marazuela¹, Jon Jimenez², Samanta Gasco Cervero³ Jesica Rodríguez-Martín⁴, Juan Carlos Santamarta⁵ and Alejandro García-Gil¹,

 

¹Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain (a.garcia@igme.es)

²Department of Earth Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

³Madrid Health Department, Madrid City Council, Spain.

⁴ Department of Techniques and Projects in Engineering and Architecture, University of La Laguna (ULL), Tenerife, Spain.

⁵Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering. University of La Laguna, Tenerife (Canary Islands), Spain

 

This communication outlines the research framework of the NATALIE project, emphasizing the application of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to address pressing climate change challenges across three distinct case studies in the Canary Islands—Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Fuerteventura. The primary focus is on utilizing NBS as transformative measures to bolster resilience throughout the archipelago. Identified challenges encompass escalating extreme rainfall intensities leading to floods, uncontrolled runoff, water quality degradation from sewer overflows, desertification, and the management of groundwater bodies under future climate change scenarios.

 

The showcased activities include a series of NBS and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) in Gran Canaria, with specific attention given to the Maspalomas lagoon. Tenerife's La Laguna case study highlights innovative NBS aimed at preventing flooding, presenting cost-effective alternatives for the construction of new drainage systems. Fuerteventura's initiative involves implementing natural treatment systems to combat nitrogen and pollutants, coupled with the utilization of regenerated water for restoring degraded wetlands. Furthermore, the research explores the monitoring of retention and infiltration capacities of traditional agricultural and rainwater storage systems.

 

The overarching goal of this research is to advocate for a comprehensive and diverse implementation of NBS, thereby contributing significantly to the resilience of the Canary Islands against the multifaceted impacts of climate change.