The visit is part of a series of conferences organized by the public environmental management company of the Basque Government, Ihobe, within the LIFE Urban Klima 2050 program. The meetings brought together in Bilbao representatives from 24 EU projects to share progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation.
“"Euskadi offers an example of how to translate climate planning into concrete actions in the territory, through collaboration between administrations, agents, and technical knowledge."
In Bermeo, the delegation was received by municipal representatives, who accompanied the group on a tour from La Tala to Tonpoi. During the walk, the experts learned about the details of the intervention in the enclave, located in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and adjacent to the Natura 2000 Network. The cliff area near the watchtower suffered from a high level of degradation due to erosion, human pressure, and loss of vegetation cover.
After two years of work, the cliffs have been restored by planting native species adapted to the conditions of the Cantabrian Sea. Three key habitats have also been regenerated – the coastal littoral, the Atlantic countryside, and the Cantabrian holm oak forest – to promote biodiversity. Nearly a hundred trees and 1,200 shrubs have been planted, and paths have been created to allow the public to access the coves and enjoy a natural environment. The plan had a significant social component, transforming it into a 1.4-hectare green area designed to act as a climate refuge.
In Bakio, the mayor led the European visit to learn about the project against floods in the Estepona river, which directly affect the urban core whenever intense rainfall occurs. In this case, the 2.4 million euro intervention currently being carried out in the Bakea and Solozarre areas aims to return space to the river, allowing the recovery of its physical and biological processes, and at the same time, opening a leisure and recreation area.
