General
National Id
Portugal_02
Site name
Tamera community, Monte do Cerro, Odemira Municipality (located 20 kms off the west coast in the south of the country)
Summary
Water retention spaces, reforestation and grazing management in southern Portugal.
The ecovillage of Tamera is a community of 190 permanent residents (and more than 100 non-permanent inhabitants) living in a property in the South of Portugal (Monte do Cerro, municipality of Odemira). The application designed and implemented in this location consists of the creation of “Water Retention Landscapes” by means of the following measures: reforestation and the planting of mixed-culture ground cover vegetation; holistic grazing management; keyline design; terracing; swales; and the most well-know measure, the construction of water retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and ponds.
The ecovillage of Tamera is a community of 190 permanent residents (and more than 100 non-permanent inhabitants) living in a property in the South of Portugal (Monte do Cerro, municipality of Odemira). The application designed and implemented in this location consists of the creation of “Water Retention Landscapes” by means of the following measures: reforestation and the planting of mixed-culture ground cover vegetation; holistic grazing management; keyline design; terracing; swales; and the most well-know measure, the construction of water retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and ponds.
Light or indepth?
Light
NUTS Code
Alentejo
RBD code
PTRH6
Transboundary
0
NWRM(s) implemented in the case study
Longitude
-8.51583333333
Latitude
37.715
Site information
Climate zone
warm temperate dry
Mean rainfall
1065
Mean rainfall unit
mm/year
Average temperature
14.5
Mean runoff
250
Mean runoff unit
450 - 600 mm
Type
Case Study Info
Monitoring maintenance
Monitoring impacts effects
1
Performance
Performance impact estimation method
Catchment outlet
Performance impact estimation information
The inhabitants themselves (and specially, the Ecology Department of the community under the form of a specific association -AMH-) are in charge of the assesing the degree of compliance with the objectives with the support of external experts (such as the Permaculture specialist Sepp Holzer, or from several universities)
Design & implementations
Application scale
Field Scale
Installation date
2007
Age
5
Performance timescale
1 - 4 years
Area (ha)
133
Area subject to Land use change or Management/Practice change (ha)
133
Favourable preconditions
Contruction water retention spaces: favorable site conditions (geology, soil permeability, topography, catchment annual runoff…)
Design contractual arrangement
| Arrangement type | Responsibility | Role | Comments | Name |
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Design consultation activity
| Activity stage | Key issues | Name | Comments |
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Design land use change
| Land use change type |
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Design authority
| Authority type | Role | Responsibility | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lessons, risks, implications...
Key lessons
Finalist for the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge (Buckminster Fuller Institute Socially-Responsible Design's Award) and also analysed within the framework of two European Research Projects (ERA-NET CIRCLE-2) it is been considered as an inspiring local scale effective strategy for adapting to climate change. The most well known measure applied within the framework of this practice (the construction of rainwater retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and ponds (interconnected permanent artificial lakes and ponds designed to retaining rainwater not sealed with concrete/plastic material and with a natural material dam) is becoming increasingly studied due to its replicability potential.
Success factor(s)
| Success factor type | Success factor role | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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Specific incentives for stakeholder involvement
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main factor
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Public participation
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secondary factor
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About to sign a contract between Tamera and the Municipality |
Financing
| Financing type | Comments |
|---|---|
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Other
|
Activities are financed through donations and grants, by guests and the revenue from seminars, and from the Book Shop. The purchase of Tamera’s land and the initial investment were partially finance with loans
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Driver
| Driver type | Driver role | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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Organisation committed to it
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main driver
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Strong commitment with “changing” subsistence and regional autonomy, in regard to infrastructure, new forms of water management and cooperation with nature
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Financing share
| Financing share type | Share | Comments |
|---|
Policy, general governance and design targets
Policy description
The ecovillage of Tamera (“Tamera Healing Biotope 1”), founded in 1995, is a community of 190 permanent residents (and 120 non-permanent inhabitants in 2012) living in a property of 133 ha located in the South of Portugal (Monte do Cerro, municipality of Odemira).
Main problems affecting the area where Tamera is located are: deteriorated soils (washed fertile topsoil layers, damaged structure, erosion and desertification) due to pressures put in the past (such overgrazing and unsuitable agricultural practices) and water quantity issues (heavy rainfalls causing flooding and, on the other side, water scarcity and droughts). The application designed and implemented consists of the creation of “Water Retention Landscapes” (i.e. “systems for the restoration of the full water cycle by retaining the water in the areas where it falls as rain” -Ulbig, 2014-) covering 5 areas (water, forest, gardens, seeds and pasture management).
Measures implemented were: reforestation and the planting of mixed-culture ground cover vegetation; holistic grazing management; keyline design; terracing; swales; and the mos well-know measure, the construction of water retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and ponds (interconnected permanent artificial lakes and ponds designed to retaining rainwater not sealed with concrete/plastic material and with a natural material dam with slope 1:2 as a barrier).
Main problems affecting the area where Tamera is located are: deteriorated soils (washed fertile topsoil layers, damaged structure, erosion and desertification) due to pressures put in the past (such overgrazing and unsuitable agricultural practices) and water quantity issues (heavy rainfalls causing flooding and, on the other side, water scarcity and droughts). The application designed and implemented consists of the creation of “Water Retention Landscapes” (i.e. “systems for the restoration of the full water cycle by retaining the water in the areas where it falls as rain” -Ulbig, 2014-) covering 5 areas (water, forest, gardens, seeds and pasture management).
Measures implemented were: reforestation and the planting of mixed-culture ground cover vegetation; holistic grazing management; keyline design; terracing; swales; and the mos well-know measure, the construction of water retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and ponds (interconnected permanent artificial lakes and ponds designed to retaining rainwater not sealed with concrete/plastic material and with a natural material dam with slope 1:2 as a barrier).
Policy target
| Target purpose |
|---|
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Increase Water Storage
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Runoff control
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Groundwater Recharge
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Improved Biodiversity
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Oher Societal Benefits
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Policy pressure
| Pressure directive | Relevant pressure |
|---|
Policy area
| Policy area type | Policy area focus | Name | Comments |
|---|
Policy impact
| Impact directive | Relevant impact |
|---|
Policy wider plan
| Wider plan type | Wider plan focus | Name | Comments |
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Policy requirement directive
| Requirement directive | Specification |
|---|
Socio-economic
Direct benefits information
Slow rainwater runoff
Enhance biodiversity (habitat and biodiversity conservation)
Increasing water storage capacity (recover the groundwater table)
Agricultural productivity increase (local food production autonomy and effects in terms of economic growth in the community)
Enhance biodiversity (habitat and biodiversity conservation)
Increasing water storage capacity (recover the groundwater table)
Agricultural productivity increase (local food production autonomy and effects in terms of economic growth in the community)
Ancillary benefits information
Social benefits as recreational services and amenity and clean water for different uses (for drinking and for irrigation).
Ecosystem functions that provide co-benefits as in the case of storing and fixing carbon and serving as wildlife habitats and ecological corridors.
Increasing water storage capacity reduce dowstream flooding events.
Contributes to prevent rural depopulation.
Contributes to control desertification process in the area
Contributes to the development of a alternate model
Ecosystem functions that provide co-benefits as in the case of storing and fixing carbon and serving as wildlife habitats and ecological corridors.
Increasing water storage capacity reduce dowstream flooding events.
Contributes to prevent rural depopulation.
Contributes to control desertification process in the area
Contributes to the development of a alternate model
Costs total
500000
Costs total information
Only for the creation of the water retentation lakes: more than 500000€ (Source: Pijnappels and Dietl, 2013)
Ecosystem improved biodiversity
1
Information on Ecosystem improved biodiversity
More than 10.000 planted trees: areas afforested with a wide diversity of species and fruit tree plantations. Forest corridors are useful as protected paths for wild animals (e.g. boars, badgers, foxes, genets and forest owl) to reach the lakes and ponds.
Ecosystem provisioning services
1
Information on Ecosystem provisioning services
Contribution to the regional food autonomy (objective of the project: 80% regional food autonomy) as progressively more vegetables and fruits consumed by the community are grown in their own gardens, on the terraces and at the shores of the water retention spaces.
Ecosystem water supply
1
Information on Ecosystem water supply
Since 2011 drinking water needs of the community of are supplied from wells fed by the Water Retention Landscape (190 permanent residents and 120 non-permanent inhabitants in 2012.
Ecosystem impact climate regulation
Impact on GHGs (net emissions and storage) including soil carbon
Information on Ecosystem impact climate regulation
Increase CO2 stored due to the forest and soil restauration measures
Biophysical impacts
Information on retained water
N/A volume of water retained but created water retention spaces were able to substantially contribute to supply water demands of the community (for different uses: domestic, irrigation and recreational)
Information on increased water storage
By means of the construction of water retention spaces (lakes and ponds) water storage capacity is enhanced.
Information on runoff reduction
Measures implemented within the framework of the Water Retention Landscape (reforestation and mixed-culture ground cover vegetation; holistic grazing management; keyline design; terracing; swales; and the mos well-know measure, the construction of water retention spaces in the form of decentralized lakes and pond) were designed for this purpose.
Ecosystem erosion control
1
Information on Ecosystem erosion control
Due to the implemented refforestation measures
Water quality overall improvements
Positive impact-WQ improvement
Information on Water quality overall improvements
Design principles applied to the water retention spaces contribute to improve water quality (winding banks, different bed depths…) by enhancing self-purification processes.
Soil quality overall soil improvements
Positive impact-SQ improvement
Information on Soil quality overall soil improvements
By means of topsoil creation, soil quality is enhanced in general terms.