The fourth MONTCLIMA transnational transfer seminar took place at the Bilbao conference centre.

During a little more than 4 hours, the 12 speakers of the day discussed some key aspects of soil protection strategies at European and regional level, two pilot tests on the subject that are being developed within the scope of MONTCLIMA and inspiring presentations on the potential of soils as carbon sinks and their role in mitigating climate change.

Block 1, on MONTCLIMA case studies for soil protection, featured a very inspiring introduction by Carlos Garbisu, scientific director of NEIKER. Carlos spoke about the inescapable link between the good state of soils and the health of the planet. The scientist argued that when we talk about soil health, we are referring to its functions and specifically to the ecosystem services it provides to humans. However, this concept has its limitations and there is also a lot of confusion between terms (functions, processes and services). "Vigour, organisation and resilience are more appropriate concepts to measure the health of any ecosystem," Carlos concluded.

The concept of rewilding emerges as a key alternative to mitigate the impacts of climate change and generally offset the effects of global change. It can be a viable strategy to ensure the functional integrity of ecosystems, so that they can develop their ecological processes and functions, on which the health of the planet depends.