- The ‘Canya a la canya’ project is supported by the Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
2 May 2024.- The mayor of Albalat de la Ribera, Jose Antonio Roig Ferrer, and the president of the Consorci de la Ribera, Josep Mur Díaz-Hellín, visited the works being carried out as part of the Canya a la canya project in the municipality of Albalat de la Ribera, accompanied by the president of the Mancomunitat de la Ribera Baixa, Manuela Egea Moreno, and the president of the Mancomunitat de la Ribera Alta, Paqui Momparler Orta. The event was also attended by Albalat de la Ribera councillors Josep Sala, councillor for trade, youth, festivals and communication, and Nuria Sarrió, councillor for culture, heritage and historical memory, as well as the councillor for the environment of Sueca Town Council, Angela Marí.
During the visit to the area of action, technicians from the Canya a la canya project gave a technical explanation of the actions to the authorities and contextualised them within the overall project. Representatives of the Fundació Limne explained the actions planned in the project in terms of communication, training and citizen participation.
In order to achieve the main objective of this project, a total of six actions have been defined, which bring together a series of measures focused on this goal. In the case of the municipality of Albalat de la Ribera, two of these actions are currently being carried out.
The first action is the management and control of invasive alien species, eliminating existing invasive species in the areas of action, with the main target species being giant reed (Arundo donax L.). To this end, depending on the zoning carried out according to the characteristics of the terrain and the feasibility of implementation, the methods of elimination will be elimination by shading, following the procedure of mowing, covering, monitoring and removing the covering, and elimination by extracting the rhizome.
The second action to be carried out in Albalat de la Ribera is the removal of abandoned geotextile, removing the geotextile installed in previous reed bed management operations which, for one reason or another, has not been removed and is currently buried or semi-buried in different locations.
The ultimate goal, in addition to the environmental restoration of the area, is to enhance the value of the Xúquer and bring this highly valuable space closer to the public. That is why the project also includes public awareness and education activities developed by the Limne Foundation.
The Consorci de la Ribera and the Fundació Limne have announced the creation of a large green corridor between Sumacàrcer and the sea, focused on the conservation and improvement of the Xúquer River through actions to manage and control invasive species, restore native vegetation, removal of obstructive material, transformation of abandoned farmland to create natural river space, and stabilisation and setbacks of riverbanks.
The actions designed for this large green corridor cover an area of 124,358 m² along 75 km of the Xúquer River as it passes through the municipalities of Sumacàrcer, Antella, Gavarda, Castelló, Alberic, Benimuslem, Alzira, Algemesí, Albalat de la Ribera, Polinyà de Xúquer, Sueca, Riola, Fortaleny and Cullera.
The Limne Foundation has mobilised almost 300 citizens in the project’s participatory activities and expects to involve 29 schools by the end of the educational campaign, which means 7,500 schoolchildren will be involved in the project.
EUROPEAN FUNDS
The project presented by the Consorci de la Ribera and Limne, called ‘Canya a la canya’, has been awarded €3,747,949.03 in a call for grants promoted by the Fundación Biodiversidad of theMinisterio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO), for the restoration of river ecosystems and the reduction of flood risk in urban environments, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
The call, which received a total of 230 proposals, has selected 37 projects, including ‘Canya a la canya’, which presents initiatives that promote nature-based solutions that, in addition to restoring and increasing the biodiversity and environmental values of the Xúquer, contribute significantly to reducing flood risks in its urban sections. In addition, the project aims to raise awareness among the population of the importance of river restoration as a tool for reducing the impact of flooding and to transfer the knowledge acquired to other municipalities with similar problems, so that the benefits of the initiative can be multiplied.