The Biodiversity Foundation has confirmed the final settlement of the renaturalisation project of the Guadarrama River and the Poveda Stream, with a total grant of €2.37 million.
The City Council of Collado Villalba has received official congratulations from the Biodiversity Foundation for the development and results of the Renaturalisation Project of the Guadarrama River and the Poveda Stream as it flows through the municipality. The state entity has confirmed the final settlement of the project with the granting of the total subsidy, amounting to €2,376,000.
In the letter sent to the council, the Biodiversity Foundation values the work carried out during the execution of the works and emphasises that the intervention "has satisfactorily contributed to the improvement of the ecological resilience of the Guadarrama River and the Poveda Stream." The entity particularly highlights that "the demonstration that it is possible to renaturalise a concreted river in a consolidated urban environment is the greatest achievement of the project."
The action has allowed for the removal of the concrete bed over 1.33 kilometres of the urban stretch of the river, the recovery of natural habitats, and the planning of the monitoring and maintenance of the actions carried out. The mayor of Collado Villalba, Mariola Vargas, has expressed her satisfaction with this recognition and noted that "this congratulation is a support for the work done by the City Council over the past few years and demonstrates that the commitment to recover our river has been a success."
Vargas added that "we have transformed a degraded space into a natural environment that all residents can enjoy today, while contributing to improving biodiversity and making the city more sustainable." For his part, the councillor for Urbanism and Environment, Adan Martínez, indicated that "this recognition positions Collado Villalba as a national benchmark in the renaturalisation of urban spaces."
Martínez explained that "it has been a complex action from a technical point of view, but today we have a living river, integrated into the city and prepared to face the challenges posed by climate change with greater guarantees." The councillor also wanted to highlight the social value of the recovery, as it "returns this space to the residents as a place for meeting, walking, and contact with nature, consolidating a healthier city model."
The Biodiversity Foundation concludes its communication by encouraging the City Council to continue working on the adaptation, naturalisation, and resilience of the city, expressly thanking the efforts made by the entire team involved in the development of the project. This recognition comes after several years of works in the urban stretch of the river, which had historically been channelled and concreted, losing its ecological value and connection with the urban environment.
The renaturalisation of the Guadarrama in Collado Villalba is part of a broader programme by the Biodiversity Foundation to recover river spaces in urban environments across Spain. The project has served as an example for other municipalities facing similar challenges, and the City Council has expressed its intention to continue promoting actions of this type in the future.
The residents of Collado Villalba can now enjoy a river with a naturalised course, with riverside vegetation and walking areas, which has transformed a degraded area into a green space integrated into the city. The action also contributes to improving local biodiversity and mitigating the effects of climate change in the municipality.
The next step will be to ensure the maintenance of the actions carried out and to continue monitoring the evolution of the ecosystem, as confirmed by the City Council. The congratulations from the Biodiversity Foundation serves as an impetus for the municipality to continue committing to sustainability and the recovery of its natural spaces.
You may also like
