SALAM-MED

Land degradation and desertification (LDD) in the Mediterranean (MED) is becoming increasingly pronounced due to climate change and increasing  pressures on agricultural and forest land. This has negative implications for the provision of ecosystem services, climate change mitigation, food security and the social, economic and political domains. The confluence of climatological, agronomic, social and economic factors inducing and resulting from LDD requires integrated holistic approaches. The SALAM-MED consortium of research organisations, NGOs, SMEs and the FAO working across the MED, will utilise six living lab (LL) ‘hotspots’ that will help to address the ecological and social heterogeneity of the MED drylands. This approach will develop coherent eco-technological and socio-economic strategies to improve water management while preventing LDD and remediate degraded land. LDD of drylands is fundamentally driven by insufficient water availability. Water scarcity induces conflicts over the use of water for agricultural and civil purposes potentially leading to inappropriate water management that exacerbates LDD. SALAM-MED will test diverse water harvesting and bio-based technologies at LLs ranging from crop cultivation in ephemeral wadi rivers (Egypt and Tunisia), pastoral argan forests (Morocco), managed native forests and silvopastoral systems (Spain and Italy) and olive groves (Greece). 

Water harvesting techniques, such as those promoting soil water infiltration during flash rainfall events, sub-surface collection of rain water through the use of biodegradable plastic devices, sustainable use of ground water for supplemental irrigation of cropped areas to prevent groundwater over-pumping in coastal areas will enhance hotspot hydrology. LLs will also test grazing and forest management practices leading to enhanced ecosystem services, improved agricultural and forest productivity, increased soil nutrient availability, which ultimately result into new business opportunities empowering particularly youths and women. Plant phenotyping, digital agriculture technologies and symbiotic plant promoting microbial consortia will increase crop water use efficiency, drought resilience and productivity at the LLs, strengthening local agriculture. Crop, hydrological and systems dynamics modelling will enable the LL outputs to be out-scaled across the MED alongside extended cost-benefit analysis of socio-economic sustainability. 

SALAM-MED will create digital environments to empower local MED communities to exploit these technologies to strengthen local markets, reduce regional migration pressures and provide equitable opportunities for women and young people. The competencies of the SALAM-MED partners will ensure the effective roll-out and dissemination of the scientific, agricultural, economic, technological and social results of LL case-studies across the MED: transfer of knowledge through exchange visits of early career researchers, local hub networks of NGOs and FAO activities in Near East and North African countries. This dissemination strategy will ensure the long-term viability of the SALAM-MED project through potential commercial exploitation (e.g. smart agriculture, digital technologies and plant growth promoting microbial communities), seeding of academic research and agricultural / environmental benefits in terms of land remediation and sustained ecosystem services. LDD is a complex problem across the MED, requiring solutions tailored for the ecological and social characteristics of each subregion. SALAM-MED represents a significant step in recognising and addressing the interactions, influences and impacts surrounding LDD towards finding effective long-term solutions.