Terrasafe seeks to save Cyprus from desertification

The increasing threat of desertification in rural areas of Cyprus will be addressed through an ambitious five-year project focusing on decreasing soil organic carbon.

The project, co-financed by the EU under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme, comes to the island through Terrasafe, a new European project to stall desertification in Cyprus, Italy, Romania, Spain and Tunisia.

Eleven European and one North African country will be working on the “ambitious five-year project”, Terrasafe says in a press release.

The Cyprus Institute (CyI), the NGO Akti Project and Research Centre and Isotech Ltd Environmental Research Consultancy will cooperate to test solutions for building resilience in rural areas affected by desertification.

These three organisations will cooperate with communities and farmers of the Morphou community complex, with participation from agricultural and environmental organisations and authorities.

“Five innovative technologies and management practices for retaining moisture in the soil and for increasing soil organic carbon, nutrients and trace elements will be tested and demonstrated,” Terrasafe said.

“These solutions aim to strengthen the communities’ ability to combat desertification in a way that is both economically and environmentally effective.”

CyI associate professor Adriana Bruggeman said that increasing the organic matter in the soil improves the land’s capacity to retain water and nutrients and supports agriculture and nature.

“Storing organic carbon in soils will also reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and mitigate climate change,” she added.

Chemical and environmental engineer and director of Isotech Ltd Dr Michalis Loizidis said that the collaboration of academics with field scientists, innovative companies and local communities would contribute significantly to the practical implementation of solutions adapted to the specific needs of each region.

“These efforts will include nature-based solutions for increasing organic matter in the soil and technological innovations to promote precision agriculture,” he said.

Terrasafe, coordinated by Dr Jacob Keizer of the University of Aveiro in Portugal, will also address soil salinisation in Tunisia, population decline and land abandonment in Italy, water scarcity in Spain and vegetation decline in forested areas in Romania.

Desertification is the process by which productive land and soils lose their capacity to sustain crop production or natural vegetation as a result of unsustainable land management practices and climate change.