The Basque Government has presented twenty projects that position the Basque Country as a European benchmark in nature-based solutions

• Ihobe has presented a publication with 20 new success stories in the application of nature-based solutions in response to the dual crisis of climate and biodiversity loss
• The Basque Law on Energy Transition and Climate Change expressly refers to the promotion, planning and use of Nature-Based Solutions to achieve the territory's adaptation objectives
• The Basque Government's action includes a total of 90 projects at different levels of the administration over the past 15 years and positions the Basque Country as a benchmark region in Europe. 

The Public Environmental Management Company, Ihobe, has presented "Nature-based solutions in the Basque Country: 20 success stories to adapt to climate change", at a conference held in Bilbao in which the Basque Government’s Director of Natural Heritage and Climate Chang, Adolfo Uriarte, recalled the "firm commitment over the past 15 years to these solutions that help to manage sustainably and restore ecosystems", while providing benefits for human well-being and biodiversity. In the 20 cases described above, nearly 54,000 trees, shrubs and aromatic plants have been planted, and an area of more than 490,000 m2 has been renaturalised, including school playgrounds, squares, car parks, industrial areas, viaduct underpasses and roads. Around 35 hectares of forest plantations, floodplains and coastal shoreline have also been renaturalised. 

The public policy of deploying Nature Based Solutions (NBS) promoted by the Basque Government goes from planning to action. With these twenty new cases, a total of 90 NBS projects have been financed in 54 municipalities of the Basque Country: 39% in small municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, 33% in medium-sized municipalities with a population between 5,000 and 50,000, and 28% in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, including the three Basque capitals. The NBS have been implemented in coastal and inland municipalities, as well as in the capitals and small towns of the three historical territories.

The publication presented today is a continuation of previous works published by Ihobe, which place the Basque Country as "a benchmark region in Europe". This was emphasised by Paola Lepori, the European Commission's Policy Officer for Nature-Based Solutions, who praised the Basque Country's "long track record of promoting nature-based adaptation". In this respect, the recently approved Basque Law on Energy Transition and Climate Change expressly refers to the promotion, planning and use of green and blue infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions to favour the territory’s adaptation and resilience. 

Six practical experiences  

In addition to the solutions proposed in projects developed in Barcelona, Milan and Glasgow, six practical cases in the Basque Country were presented during the conference: in the three capitals of the historical territories and in the municipalities of Oñati, Sestao and Ea. 

Transport infrastructures are an area with great potential for renaturalisation that contribute to the habitability of cities. The conversion of 6,000 m2 of road into a green corridor in Calle Maria Diaz de Haro in Bilbao stands out. 

On the other hand, the renaturalisation of the Oñati school is an example of the comprehensive rehabilitation of a building using NBS, with its green roof, dry toilets inside and wooden façade. The project includes other NBS in the exterior, such as the phyto-purification system for grey water and the permeable paving of the school playground. 

In Vitoria-Gasteiz, 43 hectares of industrial areas on the Jundiz industrial estate have been renaturalised and converted into a new leisure area in this part of the capital of Alava.  

In the case of Ea, a reversible car park of more than 5,000 m2 has been created on the grounds of the former Urtubiaga factory. The car park has been built with permeable paving, drainage ditches and a phyto-purification system that favours the infiltration of the runoff once it has been purified.  

Other projects documented in the guide in the rural areas of the territory include phyto-purification systems for domestic wastewater as a feasible, efficient and economic solution in areas with a dispersed population that are not reached by sanitation. Three municipalities have used this type of solution: Oñati, Ibarrangelu and Etxebarri, with a total surface area of 159 m2 of installation to supply a population equivalent of 78 inhabitants.  

The guide also includes three reforestation projects with autochthonous species on 30.4 hectares between the municipalities of Bakio, Orendain and Donostia. Finally, on the coast, the recovery of 1.4 hectares of natural coastal space on the cliffs of Tonpoi, in Bermeo, has been documented.  

Deployment and results of NBS in the Basque Country 

The Basque Government has been firmly committed to the deployment of NBS for more than 15 years, through a regulatory and planning framework that fosters the implementation of these solutions in the territory.  

As an example of this, the promotion of transformative and collaborative projects such as LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050, approved in 2019, which implements 40 actions with NBS in different municipalities of the Basque Country, and the Horizon Europe programme’s Regions4Climate project, which will recover wetland in the Txingudi estuary belonging to the Natura 2000 Network, stand out.