Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2023 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30952 |
Resumo: | Nature restoration is essential to tackle the loss of biodiversity and to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. Recently the United Nations declared 2021 - 2030 the decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems, while the European Union 2030 Biodiversity Strategy includes restoration as a core pillar. Rivers and streams are a key component of ecosystems, yet many are in poor ecological condition. The Por- tuguese Environmental Agency (APA) ran a program from 2018 to 2020 to restore degraded watercourses through bioengineering interventions. Yet these do not restore missing ecological processes, while additional funding would be required to expand their range. Thus long-term improvement is not assured. Beavers used to inhabit the Iberian Peninsula and they have already been brought back to other areas, as a means to restore freshwater ecosystems. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, building dams, digging canals and cutting shrubs and trees. As a keystone species, beavers allow many others to thrive, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits. In this work we select, among the actions listed in the APA river restoration guide, those that beavers might perform. We value these actions in monetary terms as avoided costs, taking into consideration price intervals and expected beaver colony activity. We conclude that beavers have the potential to replicate many commonly-used river restoration actions, possibly saving millions of euros in interventions. Bringing back the beaver therefore seems a worthwhile endeavour, not only in Portugal but in the main river basins of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, beavers could provide a boost to wildlife, increase landscape resilience to climate change and bring hope in the face of envi- ronmental challenges. |
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Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restorationEcosystem restorationNature based solutionsRewildingEcosystem managementNature restoration is essential to tackle the loss of biodiversity and to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. Recently the United Nations declared 2021 - 2030 the decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems, while the European Union 2030 Biodiversity Strategy includes restoration as a core pillar. Rivers and streams are a key component of ecosystems, yet many are in poor ecological condition. The Por- tuguese Environmental Agency (APA) ran a program from 2018 to 2020 to restore degraded watercourses through bioengineering interventions. Yet these do not restore missing ecological processes, while additional funding would be required to expand their range. Thus long-term improvement is not assured. Beavers used to inhabit the Iberian Peninsula and they have already been brought back to other areas, as a means to restore freshwater ecosystems. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, building dams, digging canals and cutting shrubs and trees. As a keystone species, beavers allow many others to thrive, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits. In this work we select, among the actions listed in the APA river restoration guide, those that beavers might perform. We value these actions in monetary terms as avoided costs, taking into consideration price intervals and expected beaver colony activity. We conclude that beavers have the potential to replicate many commonly-used river restoration actions, possibly saving millions of euros in interventions. Bringing back the beaver therefore seems a worthwhile endeavour, not only in Portugal but in the main river basins of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, beavers could provide a boost to wildlife, increase landscape resilience to climate change and bring hope in the face of envi- ronmental challenges.Elsevier2024-02-08T14:28:41Z2023-01-01T00:00:00Z20232024-02-08T14:27:56Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10071/30952eng2772-411510.1016/j.nbsj.2023.100055Veríssimo, D.Roseta-Palma, C.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2024-02-11T01:18:56Zoai:repositorio.iscte-iul.pt:10071/30952Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T02:37:34.894633Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
title |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
spellingShingle |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration Veríssimo, D. Ecosystem restoration Nature based solutions Rewilding Ecosystem management |
title_short |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
title_full |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
title_fullStr |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
title_sort |
Rewilding with the beaver in the Iberian Peninsula - Economic potential for river restoration |
author |
Veríssimo, D. |
author_facet |
Veríssimo, D. Roseta-Palma, C. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Roseta-Palma, C. |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Veríssimo, D. Roseta-Palma, C. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Ecosystem restoration Nature based solutions Rewilding Ecosystem management |
topic |
Ecosystem restoration Nature based solutions Rewilding Ecosystem management |
description |
Nature restoration is essential to tackle the loss of biodiversity and to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change. Recently the United Nations declared 2021 - 2030 the decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems, while the European Union 2030 Biodiversity Strategy includes restoration as a core pillar. Rivers and streams are a key component of ecosystems, yet many are in poor ecological condition. The Por- tuguese Environmental Agency (APA) ran a program from 2018 to 2020 to restore degraded watercourses through bioengineering interventions. Yet these do not restore missing ecological processes, while additional funding would be required to expand their range. Thus long-term improvement is not assured. Beavers used to inhabit the Iberian Peninsula and they have already been brought back to other areas, as a means to restore freshwater ecosystems. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, building dams, digging canals and cutting shrubs and trees. As a keystone species, beavers allow many others to thrive, delivering significant environmental and economic benefits. In this work we select, among the actions listed in the APA river restoration guide, those that beavers might perform. We value these actions in monetary terms as avoided costs, taking into consideration price intervals and expected beaver colony activity. We conclude that beavers have the potential to replicate many commonly-used river restoration actions, possibly saving millions of euros in interventions. Bringing back the beaver therefore seems a worthwhile endeavour, not only in Portugal but in the main river basins of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, beavers could provide a boost to wildlife, increase landscape resilience to climate change and bring hope in the face of envi- ronmental challenges. |
publishDate |
2023 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2023-01-01T00:00:00Z 2023 2024-02-08T14:28:41Z 2024-02-08T14:27:56Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30952 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10071/30952 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
2772-4115 10.1016/j.nbsj.2023.100055 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Elsevier |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Elsevier |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
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1799137426772328448 |