Improving sustainability and recovering biodiversity are important challenges for European agricultural operations, although they can become opportunities for growth and increased profitability. To this end, LIFE Olivares Vivos +, a project coordinated by SEO/BirdLife, launches the 24/25 call for training courses on the use of natural resources and ecosystem services. The program is especially designed for olive growers and, with a format tailored to their needs, has already opened the enrollment process.
The presentation of these courses took place during the event “Olive Groves and Biodiversity: facing the challenges of the countryside,” held yesterday in Jaén, at the auditorium of the 123 Emprende building, of the Fulgencio Meseguer Foundation. The event also served to highlight the results obtained from the biodiversity survey in the main olive-growing regions of Europe, as well as to review the advances of Olivares Vivos regarding their studies on the restoration of flora and fauna in cultivated fields and the increase in agricultural profitability. Additionally, the certification process and advances in replication and transfer to other crops through LIFE Olivares Vivos+ and other projects such as Secanos Vivos and Montes Vivos, also coordinated by SEO/BirdLife, were discussed.
The event, presented by Olivia Aranda, also featured the presence of Isabel Uceda Cantero, Deputy for the Environment and Climate Change of the Provincial Council of Jaén; Soledad Aranda Martínez, territorial delegate in Jaén for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Andalusian Government; and Victoria López Ramón, Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the University of Jaén. Also present were Francisco Valera Hernández, senior scientist at the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (CSIC), and Isabel Miralles González, director of the 1, 2, 3, Emprende program and manager of the Fulgencio Meseguer Foundation.
Olivares Vivos Training Programs
The design of the Olivares Vivos training programs addresses the main issues regarding agriculture and biodiversity. The course aimed at olive growers prepares them for the implementation of practices that promote the recovery of ecosystem services (such as reducing erosion, improving soil fertility, or pest control), as well as for adapting their farms to the environmental criteria required by the PAC eco-schemes.
Additionally, completing the course and implementing the described practices brings farmers closer to the Olivares Vivos Certification, a seal of guarantee that adds value to Extra Virgin Olive Oils (AOVE) in the market. In this sense, it is important to highlight the growing importance of biodiversity-friendly products in European consumers’ purchasing decisions. In addition to courses aimed at olive growers, other training programs are also being developed, in this case, aimed at teachers.
“With this training, we ensure that the importance of preserving agricultural biodiversity is included in the classroom. We help teachers learn and apply innovative content in their classes, where sustainability is the guiding principle, and create educational materials they can use in their work,” said Paula Martín, SEO/BirdLife technician and head of Training in the LIFE Olivares Vivos+ project.
The Ecological Value of European Olive Groves
During the same meeting, the results of the most important study conducted worldwide on olive grove biodiversity were presented. Throughout 2022 and 2023, researchers from the University of Jaén and the CSIC Experimental Station of Arid Zones extended the research on the flora and fauna of olive groves developed in LIFE Olivares Vivos, from Andalusia to other regions of Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Italy. In this way, birds, bats, ants, spiders, pollinators, and herbs were studied in sixteen farms spread across Europe, with an additional three located in the provinces of Almería and Granada, in areas especially sensitive to climate change.
The results confirm that the Mediterranean olive grove continues to be a vital refuge for Europe’s flora and fauna, acting as a strategic crop for the conservation of natural heritage at both national and continental levels. In the four countries, more than 330,000 records have been obtained, covering more than 1,600 taxa (species and genera), including 990 genera and 279 families.
“The study reveals that biodiversity in olive groves increases from east to west, reaching its peak in the Iberian Peninsula. Factors such as the management of ground cover and landscape complexity are key in the variation of biodiversity levels, even under conditions of increasing aridity due to climate change. These findings reinforce the effectiveness of the Olivares Vivos agro-environmental model for recovering and maintaining biodiversity under different climatic and geographical conditions,” said Pedro Rey, Professor of Ecology at the University of Jaén and director of the LIFE Olivares Vivos+ research team.
Facing the Challenges of the Countryside
The meeting continued with the major environmental challenges currently facing agriculture, such as climate change, water scarcity, soil fertility loss, and dependence on chemical inputs. The Olivares Vivos model can help address these issues, as it not only recovers biodiversity but also turns it into profitability.
“With Olivares Vivos, we incorporate biodiversity as a means of improving the competitiveness of agricultural operations. By taking advantage of the ecosystem services of biodiversity, we reduce costs and, by bringing this added value to the market, we achieve commercial differentiation that is increasingly sought after by consumers. This improves the competitiveness of operations by integrating biodiversity as a fundamental part of their business model,” explains José Eugenio Gutiérrez, SEO/BirdLife delegate in Andalusia and director of LIFE Olivares Vivos +.
He also stated, “It is time to move from words to action, and the Olivares Vivos model is the most effective tool to begin this journey.” Biodiversity is thus presented as the best indicator of sustainability — sustainability that can be seen, smelled, heard, and felt — offering viable solutions to the socio-economic and environmental challenges facing the agricultural sector.
LIFE Olivares Vivos+
Since 2015, and with the funding of two LIFE projects, Olivares Vivos has developed and implemented an innovative olive-growing model born from the consensus between farmers, scientists, and conservationists. Now, through the LIFE Olivares Vivos+ project (2021-2026), efforts are being made to accelerate the dissemination of the model in the main olive-growing regions of Europe, extend it to other products (such as table olives), and transfer it to other crops such as almond, vine, and herbaceous crops in dryland (Secanos Vivos). Work is also being done to adapt the model to the cooperative sector through the Cooperalive Operational Group and to study the effect of herbaceous covers in olive groves with the Coverolive Operational Group.
The LIFE Olivares Vivos+ project is developed by SEO/BirdLife as the coordinating partner, along with the Provincial Council of Jaén, the University of Jaén, the Experimental Station of Arid Zones (CSIC), the University of Évora, the agricultural and forestry cooperative DREAm-Italia, the Helena Agricultural Organization, and Juan Vilar Strategic Consultants. The project is funded by the European Commission’s LIFE program and also has co-funding from the Provincial Council of Jaén and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development of the Andalusian Government, as well as financial support from the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional, the Junta de Comunidades of Castilla-La Mancha, and Caja Rural de Jaén.
