Uploaded on 2017-04-28 by Angie Ramon

Ecosystem services in my living area a) Provisioning services - Food: The territory of the municipality of Madrid is mainly an urban landscape. So the food we eat has been grown elsewhere - except in certain cases of urban gardening -and it comes already manufactured. However, the very existence of the capital has generated the improvement and intensification of traditional activities in the periurban and rural populations, in Madrid region, to compete with other national and international producers adding quality, design and ecology. This has happened with meat, vegetables, or wine among other products. - Raw materials: It is almost the same thing with raw materials, particularly agricultural ones. But in some municipalities of the metropolitan area of Madrid as Alcalá de Henares (about 20 km from Madrid) or Alcobendas (18 km), diverse industries of manufacture are located that meet ecosystem objectives. It should be noted an industry in Alcobendas which is a pioneer in the use of microalgae for generating bio-fuel. - Fresh water: A beneficial effect of Madrid for its whole region is the fresh water system, managed by a public company, - Canal de Isabel II - formerly created in Madrid City and that now comprise all regional municipalities. Madrid has been chosen as kingdom’s capital by Felipe II, owing to their geographical location, very healthy, near Sierra de Guadarrama, (about 60 km from Madrid and 2000 metres high mountains. The underground aquifers ensure the supply of fresh water due to its tiny population. There is in the 18th Century when the water of Lozoya River was channeled due to increased population. Its water of high quality became famous and now although mixed with other Sierra river’s and despite necessary purification treatments is still one of the best in the world. Madrid's Regional Sanitation Plan managed to treat 100% of the local municipalities' wastewater in 2003. - Medicinal resources: Since Carlos III ordered the Botanical Gardens employees providing free of charge, for an hour a day, herbs and medicinal plants produced in the School of Botany for the citizens to alleviate their aches and pains, many things have changed. These resources are also produced in the surrounding Madrid area: rosemary, lavender, thyme and another rainfed crops with medicinal uses b) Regulating services - Local climate and air quality: Madrid is the leading European city, and the second city in the world after Tokyo, with the greatest number of trees. The 60 percent of its street are filled with about 300.000 trees of more than 200 different species. - Carbon sequestration and storage: In compliance with the Air Quality Plan 2011-2015, the Compensate Madrid Protocol by which companies can estimate the emissions from their events or activities and compensate by planting native trees. Through this project, emissions of 2348 tonnes of CO2 have been compensated planting around 14.400 trees. - Moderation of extreme events: The city geographic location prevents extreme events, except perhaps for snows and severe frosts, (increasingly rare) in winter and heat waves (more frequent) in summer. The measures against the heat island have been exposed in a previous module. - Waste-water treatment: Is one of the strengths of the city. After Madrid's Regional Sanitation Plan put into operation in the 80’ that began in Madrid City, treatment stations, networks of sewers and waste channels had been enhanced or established. Furthermore the Plan implemented a modern sanitation network, a system for the reuse of treated wastewater (street cleaning uses more than 90% of this water) and sludge reutilization and scrubbing. - Erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility: As I have mentioned before, the territory of the municipality of Madrid is almost entirely urban. However, maintenance and conservation of parks, gardens and accessory elements, is very important to help soil retain water and nutrients and to improve climate conditions and reduce urban heat island sensation. The city council is now developing a Strategic Plan for green areas, trees and biodiversity through a participatory process. - Pollination: Pollination is particularly important for public gardens and parks of the city and the pollinating urban species are all the ordinary ones: beetles, flies, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies and moths and some little birds as warblers. - Biological control: As a curious fact, I would like to mention that in recent years many pairs of peregrine falcons have been nesting on the tallest buildings in the capital. The municipality try to locate them to protect and monitoring their adaptive capacity over time. I hope they act as natural control of pigeon’s invasion. An interesting place is the Monte del Pardo, a large forest within Madrid City territory, representing over a quarter of the total (26.4 %). It’s a continental Mediterranean forest with more than 120 plant species and regarding animals there are almost 200 vertebrate species, 125 avian species, and a dozen of reptile and amphibian classes. There was a former hunting ground so, hunting species are highly relevant, both small game (rabbits, red partridges, wood pigeons etc.) and big game (deer, boar and buck) with overpopulation due to lack of predators. Regularly, hunts controlled are performed to prevent overpopulation ruining the site natural resources. c) Habitats or supporting services - Habitats for species: Last year has been allowed free movement of Manzanares water with the opening of the floodgates that maintained the river channelled. Immediately, birds living upstream and downstream have come to the city gradually and every day are more and more numerous: cormorant, egrets and other kinds of ducks along with turtles, barbels and, of course, sea gulls which I'll talk about. The increase of birds is explained by the great quantity of fish rearing in the river, big carps, catfish and others. There have also proliferated reptiles as Mediterranean pond tortoises or water snakes but also Florida’s tortoises, an invasive species. -Maintenance of genetic diversity: I would note at this point the amazing existence of sea gulls in Madrid City for many years. First they wintered in Madrid but the fishing boats no more clean the fish and cut it in the harbor but freeze the fish in high seas. Sea gulls have migrated to city to feed themselves in the large dumps. Black-backed Gull and Black-headed Gull are now resident species, but other species have been gradually incorporated as the yellow-legged gull, silvery gull (more notably from North and West Europe), and even Caspian sea gull. The changes in the river promoting areas of marsh vegetation and attracting new occupants as Reed Bunting and some nightingale. Birders looking dream with the nesting of Blue-chest nightingales. d) Cultural services - Recreation and mental and physical health: Madrid counts on public city parks and gardens in most districts. It is recommendable to practice sports in these places because of pollutant car emissions, even though the City Council is taking actions as I have explain in a previous module. The most practiced sports are running, of course, and exercise training in functional groups, skating, pilates, yoga, tai chi, etc. - Tourism. In the past few years, the number of visitors has skyrocketed. In 2015 the number of overnight stay was 17.830.185. Many of them came to sightseeing during a vacation which prevails which prevails cultural and shopping tourism but there are many who come here to do business. Madrid is the third of the ranking of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). The International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR), the most important specialist event in this area is held in Madrid. - Aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art and design. Let me, on this point, the liberty of quoting a text in Spanish from Luis Cernuda about the Light of Madrid: “Sólo más tarde, al ir a Madrid por vez primera, me di cuenta, antes que de otras diferencias, de ésa primordial de la luz. Madrid no me parecía austero por ser castellano, sino porque su luz no tenía artificio. La claridad del aire, su limpidez, eran para mi cosa inusitada. Poder observar los objetos distantes con tanta nitidez de contornos me producía cierta tristeza, cuya pausa no sabía entonces y hoy sí: porque me faltaba por primera vez la caricia envolvente, la protección amorosa del aire. Ante los lienzos de Velázquez, en el Prado, comprendí que éste pintaba en Castilla como hubiera pintado en Andalucía, sumiendo a los cuerpos y a las cosas en una atmósfera irreal, de fantasmagoría luminosa. Al mismo tiempo, de rechazo, comprendí la pintura andaluza clásica, en la que la luz y el color son resultado del aire que los tamiza, dándoles suavidad y delicadeza. Quien quiera orgías de color que no vaya a tierras del sur, que vaya al norte a buscarlas. (Prosa completa. Barcelona: Barral Editores, 1975., pp.1100)” - Spiritual experience and sense of place: It is said that the main virtue of Madrid is make their own, and welcome, whatever it receives, unaffectedly, and it’s well known as a city of tolerance and this is perhaps due to lack of sites of veneration of nothing, with the exception of football fields and bars.