The project “LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity Green Belt of Santander Bay: connecting nature and the city” (LIFE 14 NAT/ES/000699), of which Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre is the coordinating beneficiary, will work until 2019 on the recovery of the natural areas of Santander Bay.

This programme, in which the public company MARE (Environment, Water, Waste and Energy of Cantabria) also participates as an associated beneficiary, and the Department of University and Research, Environment and Social Policy of the Government of Cantabria as co-financer, began at the end of 2015. The project is creating a green and blue infrastructure (GI&BI) that will improve the conservation status of natural areas and the quality of life of the population.

By green and blue infrastructure (GI&BI) we mean a network that will allow the connection of the different green spaces, improving the mobility between the areas that compose it, in the first case; and the rehabilitation and restoration of the rivers, wetlands, etc. in the case of the blue infrastructure. All this provides higher quality ecosystem services, that is, all the benefits that an ecosystem can provide to the people who enjoy it: air quality, climate change mitigation, water purity, spaces for enjoyment and recreation, etc.

The scope of the Green Belt covers the municipalities of Santander Bay, and includes a wide variety of ecosystems, such as coastal and inland wetlands, cliffs and seabeds, dune systems, riverside forests, Cantabrian oak sclerophyllous forests and agro-silvopastoral systems (agricultural, forestry and livestock production). Currently, this enclave of high ecological value occupies 2,361 hectares, with a perimeter of 90 km and is considered an Important Area for the Conservation of Birds (IBA nº 26).

The Project “LIFE Green Belt of Santander Bay: connecting nature and city” is possible thanks to the contribution of the European Commission’s LIFE financial instrument, as well as the economic contribution of the Regional Ministry of Universities and Research, Environment and Social Policy of the Government of Cantabria, MARE and the Nature and Man Foundation.