Specific programme: Cooperation Programme Interreg V-B Southwest Europe (Interreg SUDOE)
UPV/EHU Partner Status: Beneficiary
UPV/EHU PI: Txema Becerril
Project start: 01/07/2016
Project end:   31/10/2018
 

Brief description: Soil contamination is a widespread problem in southwest Europe with adverse effects on biodiversity and human health. With the goal of soil restoration, PhytoSUDOE will promote a wider use of phytomanagement techniques by managers and owners of contaminated lands. Phytomanagement options are less invasive and more cost-effective than civil engineering remediation techniques and aim to produce non-food crops in combination with in situ stabilisation ("inactivation") and plant-based ("phytoremediation") options. They can gradually result in an increase in soil biodiversity, quality and functionality, and carbon sequestration. However, the lack of field evidence demonstrating the provision of these vital ecosystem services has resulted in phytomanagement options being under-utilised as practical remediation strategies in the European contaminated land sector.
PhytoSUDOE´s main objective is the management of degraded environments and their restoration by means of applying novel phytoremediation techniques that promote biodiversity, enhance ecosystem functionality and enable the sustainable use of resources.