MANIFESTO FOR A REGENERATIVE TERRITORY

A Regenerative Territory

In this decade, international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union are promoting policies to help combat the global crisis. These include initiatives such as the “Agenda 2030” and the “Decade for Ecosystem Restoration”, promoted by the UN, or the “Green Pact”, promoted by the European Union, with programs such as “From Farm to Fork” and the “Biodiversity Strategy 2030”.

To respond to these mandates, which are necessary to ensure the future of our regions, administrations, associations, organizations and individuals have signed this Manifesto for a Regenerative Territory, for the improvement and development of our towns, cities and villages. A regenerative territory is one that is in the process of natural, social and economic revitalization where human beings generate a positive impact with their actions.

United under this Manifesto we strengthen our capacity to address the global crisis and create a tool to access national and international support for our Territory under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations and supported by the European Union.

AlVelAl Territory

1. The towns, cities and villages of the Altiplano of Granada, Guadix, Los Vélez, Alto Almanzora, and the Northwest of Murcia (hereinafter “The Territory”), come together to affirm our identity and our natural, cultural and social values.
2. We declare ourselves a Regenerative Territory by valuing what bring us together: our landscape, our climate, culture, traditions, handicrafts, gastronomy, heritage and a rural way of life that identifies us and unites us under the same ecosystem.
3. We recognize that our traditional agricultural landscape of highlands and dry plains with high levels of biodiversity is subject under increasingly challenging climatic conditions.
4. We contribute to the mitigation of the global crisis by producing healthy food with low water usage and a high carbon absorption capacity in the soil. Our territory represents the largest extension of organic almond trees in the world, as well as other crops such as olives and cereals.
5. Our regions provide favourable conditions to repopulate the territory and generate local resilience through regenerative farming and entrepreneurship that respects the landscape.
6. Our territory is more regenerative than many other areas of the world due to the reduced energy and water consumption of our agricultural production and by a family-centered economy that is largely made up of agricultural smallholdings.
7. We value our land as a fundamental asset and we honour the work of farmers and stockbreeders as its guardians.
8. The challenge of desertification and rural depopulation is common in our territory and requires us to act in a coordinated and participative manner, promoting the regeneration and revitalization of our counties through the restoration of our landscape.

The challenges we face

Data such as the 14% decrease of the population in the Altiplano of Granada between 2011 and 2021, the 1ºC temperature increase in Andalusia between 2007-2015 and an average loss of soil that exceeds 21 tonnes per hectare/year, highlight the need to work together to reverse these developments.

These are substantial challenges that affect us all, regardless of our personal inclinations. For all these reasons, we declare our commitment to unite our regions, under the moniker “Regenerative Territory”, with the aim of developing approaches and carrying out regenerative actions beneficial to our shared landscape with a focus on: society, landscape and economy.

Declaration of intent

By signing this Manifesto, for present and future generations, we declare our intention to:

• Keep our Territory protected and alive.
• Promote an identity that enhances local pride.
• Create spaces for participative dialogue to co-create approaches that improve people’s quality of life and respond to current social, environmental and economic challenges.
• Regenerate our counties using farming practices that help combat erosion and desertification, and promote soil restoration, water harvesting and the recovery of biodiversity.
• Manage our water resources in a sustainable and regenerative way.
• Collaborate to promote the development of business activity that revitalises the economy, helps stabilize the population and restore our landscape.

Sign the Manifesto for a Regenerative Territory

On behalf of Aland Foundation, in collaboration with the AlVelAl Association, we are committed to promote regenerative actions in line with the values of this Manifesto.