Co-production of nature’s contributions to people in dry rivers: a case study in Murcia, Spain

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location of the region of Murcia in south-eastern Spain and map of the study area. The black line delimits the study basins: Valdelentisco, El Cañar and La Azohía. The thick blue lines are the dry rivers and the thin blue lines are their tributaries. The triangles are the highest mountain peaks. The blue cross is a small flood-dependent spring. The red circles are the villages. The grey rectangles are urban areas. Terrestrial and marine protected areas are represented with different symbols. PNA = protected natural area; SPA = special protection area; SCI = site of community importance; SAC = special area of conservation; CRS = coordinate reference system.

Figure 2. Nature’s contributions to people (NCP) provided by dry rivers as reported by interviewees. NCP are classified according to the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the IPBES conceptual framework. A category of NCP not included in the previous framework is also applied: access to villages and fields. The number of interviewees that reported each NCP category is indicated.

Table 1. Material nature’s contributions to people (NCP) provided by dry rivers, as reported by interviewees. Material NCP are classified by applying the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) conceptual framework (Díaz et al. 2018). The number of interviewees (Ni) and social groups (Ng) reporting each NCP category are indicated. The NCP categories are exemplified by verbatim quotes from the interviewees.

NCP category	Ni	Ng	Examples (verbatim quotes)	Interviewee
Food and feed	37	10	‘Fifty years ago, the people who lived there subsisted on rainfed crops, if there was a spring or a dry river with waterwheels for irrigation’	2_MAN_L2
			‘There used to be a lot of carob trees for animal feed. Now it is marketed and I have declared the farm as organic. I produce carob and I am in a cooperative, apart from selling to individuals’	1_CRO_T3
			‘There are a few herders left. In La Plata there is a big one, and in El Cañar there is another goat herder and his son who make their own cheese with a designation of origin. There are few resources, but enough to live on’	3_NEI_R2
Materials, companionship and labour	26	9	‘Esparto grass was used for everything as plastic didn’t exist. It was used to make baskets by means of pleita*, mats for the feet, blowers for stoking the fire, esparteñas**’	1_CRO_T1
			‘In the old days, they had donkeys because you had to prepare and plough your land’	8_ORG_S2
			‘Before, there were no roads, there was a path and we did everything with the animals we had. In my house, we had two donkeys with packsaddle and aguaderas***’	1_CRO_T3
Medicinal and genetic resources	12	8	‘The herb that grows in the dry river has been used for kidney problems’	5_RES_3
			‘There is a sterile cellulose membrane separating each node of Arundo donax and it was used as a dressing to cut bleeding from small wounds’	5_RES_3
			‘In the past, medicine was natural, spider webs were used for cuts and wounds’ ‘In all dry rivers there are older people with traditional knowledge about medicinal plants that we appreciate but unfortunately it is being lost’	1_CRO_T1 3_NEI_B2
Energy	10	6	‘When I was ten years old, I used to cut brushwood and load it on the beasts. Then the load was transported to the quarries, where brushwood was used to burn the gypsum’	1_CRO_T3
			‘There are mountain goatherds who cook with brushwood. Something as rural as this is unique in the Mediterranean’	6_TOU_2
			‘One of the only two water flour mills on the coast of the Region of Murcia is in El Cañar dry river, which is in ruins’	8_ORG_E2

CRO_T: traditional crop farmer, MAN_L: land environmental manager, NEI_B: basin-born neighbour, NEI_R: region-born neighbour, RES: researcher, TOU: tourism sector, ORG_E: environmental non-profit organisation, ORG_S: social non-profit organisation; *esparto band made up of seven to twenty-one plaited strands; **shoes made of esparto; ***baskets made of esparto that are placed on the back of an animal to carry and protect water jugs.

Table 2. Non-material nature’s contributions to people (NCP) provided by dry rivers, as reported by interviewees. Non-material NCP are classified by applying the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) conceptual framework (Díaz et al. 2018). The number of interviewees (Ni) and social groups (Ng) reporting each NCP category are indicated. The NCP categories are exemplified by verbatim quotes from the interviewees.

NCP category	Ni	Ng	Examples (verbatim quotes)	Interviewee
Physical and psychological experiences	36	10	‘There is daily hiking along La Azohía dry river, no less than 50 people, and some days even a few hundred, and European groups who organise themselves’	8_ORG_E1
			‘Yesterday we removed the vine shoots. At weekends my son usually comes to prune them and he says it clears his mind’	1_CRO_T2
			‘El Cañar dry river and its pilgrimage are lovely, especially if you go with your partner and children for a picnic. It’s very quiet’	9_FIS_2
Learning and inspiration	34	10	‘There was a livelihood because after several generations your grandfather would say plant a fig tree and we will have figs, four olive trees, four almond trees, four carob trees, and reeds [Arundo donax] for the house’	6_TOU_2
			‘I paint these desert areas a lot. My work and my inspiration revolve around desert areas, iron oxide, mines, slate’	3_NEI_R2
			‘El Campillo de Adentro is a very beautiful area to behold, my wife painted an oil painting because it was full of chrysanthemums in bloom’	5_RES_4
Supporting identities	28	9	‘We feel identified with our natural and material heritage; we have no other identity than that’	3_NEI_B1
			‘The dry river is something we have always lived with here and it has very beautiful parts of vegetation. It is something peculiar to our own villages. Everyone sees it as something that is ours’	10_COU_2
			‘I try to have two or three trees of each species on my farm and I try to reforest the area with pines, mastic trees, and aromatic plants because for me this is the identity of the place’	3_NEI_B3

CRO_T: traditional crop farmer, NEI_B: basin-born neighbour, NEI_R: region-born neighbour, RES: researcher, TOU: tourism sector, ORG_E: environmental non-profit organisation, FIS: fisherman, COU: neighbourhood council.

Table 3. Regulating nature’s contributions to people (NCP) provided by dry rivers, as reported by interviewees. Regulating NCP are classified by applying the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) conceptual framework (Díaz et al. 2018). The number of interviewees (Ni) and social groups (Ng) reporting each NCP category are indicated. The NCP categories are exemplified by verbatim quotes from the interviewees.

NCP category	Ni	Ng	Examples (verbatim quotes)	Interviewee
Regulation of freshwater quantity, location and timing	26	9	‘Almost all dry rivers have traditional irrigation ditches. They used to live near these areas to grow their crops’	10_COU_1
			‘There we have been seven months without rain, but without rain at all, but with the water from aljibes you can live. You count how many you need’	3_NEI_R2
			‘Dry rivers have many stone terraces to slow down the runoff water so that it stays on the crops’	6_TOU_2
Habitat creation and maintenance	18	7	‘The wild boars wander along dry river in search of water, coolness and fennel roots. There are many of them’	6_TOU_1
			‘When you open the straw bales to feed the horses, you find inside nests of partridge and quail, small hares and rabbits’	4_HUN_2
			‘The trees close to dry river are a home for rabbits and a shelter for nets because they are not harvested’	6_TOU_2
Formation and protection of soils	16	9	‘In the past, the fields were sown and maintained with pedrizas to prevent erosion of the slopes’	1_CRO_T1
			‘Pomegranate trees were grown in the lower part of the crop terraces because they retained the soil and removed mineral salts from the plot’	3_NEI_R2
			‘Dry rivers carry stones and debris towards the coast, increasing its height. I couldn’t see the cars on the dry river from my house, but now I can see them almost completely because there is more soil now’	8_ORG_S1
Regulation of climate	7	4	‘The dry river is the coldest place. If you go there in summer and walk along El Cañar dry river, you will be cool’	6_TOU_1
			‘We are on The Oven Hill. The land is warmer here because underneath us there is a pit cave and a 200-metre-long lake, which warms the land together with the first rays of sunshine that always fall here’	6_TOU_1
			‘The area has a dry and harsh climate, but in dry rivers it becomes softer, allowing subsistence agriculture and the settlement of hamlets’	2_MAN_L1
Regulation of freshwater quality	5	4	‘People even collected dry river water and brought it to Cartagena city because it was mineral-medicinal’	3_NEI_B3
			‘There are two campsites with hot spring spas because there is a thermal water aquifer underneath’	8_ORG_E1
			‘We get our water from wells. I water my goats from the well at the old barracks on the dry river, because the water there is good. I extract it by hand with two buckets’	7_LIV_T1
Regulation of detrimental organisms	3	2	‘The carob tree is the only species right now that doesn’t catch pests’	1_CRO_T3
			‘There is a function that wild boar can perform, it is a great consumer of vinegar, which is a kind of invasive alien species in crops’	8_ORG_E2
Regulation of hazards and extreme events	2	2	‘Dry rivers collect rainwater. If there were no dry rivers here, there would be flooding’	6_TOU_1
			‘When it rains, dry rivers deteriorate a lot. However, there are no flooding problems, zero, it is more benefit than harm’	1_CRO_T2
Regulation of air quality	1	1	‘I think that this is as important or more important than a motorway because it is a lung that you have here and you have to maintain it with reforestation’	3_NEI_B3

CRO_T: traditional crop farmer, MAN_L: land environmental manager, NEI_B: basin-born neighbour, NEI_R: region-born neighbour, HUN: hunter, TOU: tourism sector, LIV_T: traditional livestock farmer, ORG_E: environmental non-profit organisation, ORG_S: social non-profit organisation, COU: neighbourhood council.

Figure 3. Synergies and trade-offs between the nature’s contributions to people (NCP) provided by dry rivers. NCP are classified according to the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the IPBES conceptual framework. A category of NCP not included in the previous framework is also applied: access to villages and fields. Each line indicates the interaction between two NCP categories. The thickness of the line indicates the number of interviewees who reported an interaction (the thicker the line, the more interviewees). The interactions reported by more than five interviewees are shown numerically. Synergies are represented with grey lines and trade-offs with red lines.

Table 4. Synergies between nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in dry rivers most reported by interviewees. NCP are classified by applying the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) conceptual framework (Díaz et al. 2018). The NCP A either supports or increases the NCP B. The number of interviewees (Ni) and social groups (Ng) reporting each synergy are indicated, as well as examples based on verbatim quotes from the interviewees.

NCP A	NCP B	Ni	Ng	Examples (verbatim quotes)	Interviewee
Learning and inspiration	Food and feed	23	10	‘There was a livelihood because after several generations your grandfather would say plant a fig tree and we will have figs, four olive trees, four almond trees, four carob trees and reeds [A. donax] for the house’	6_TOU_2
Learning and inspiration	Regulation of freshwater quantity, location and timing	17	8	‘In the past, the wells were equipped with a water wheel that was pulled by animals to draw water. They are between 12 and 20 metres deep. The rope has clay bowls and is wound around the waterwheel. It was a source of wealth because where there was water there was life’	3_NEI_B3
Food and feed	Supporting identities	17	9	‘After the depopulation that took place, people still have sentimental ties because they were born there or because they cultivate their land’	8_ORG_E2
Learning and inspiration	Supporting identities	16	5	‘We carry out environmental education activities and traditional uses such as esparto plaiting workshops because we want to maintain our traditions and customs, as well as sea poetry workshops and excursions in the natural environment’	8_ORG_E1
Learning and inspiration	Materials, companionship and labor	16	7	‘The reed [A. donax] has always been cut at Christmas or in January for the roofs of the houses and in May it starts to grow green and beautiful again’	1_CRO_T3
Regulation of freshwater quantity, location and timing	Food and feed	16	8	‘In the old days, dry rivers had water intakes for irrigation and they were very important because if you irrigated once, you were saved for several months’	6_TOU_2
Food and feed	Physical and psychological experiences	14	7	‘We use zero-kilometre food in the ecotourism centre. We use our almonds and carob beans to make cakes, we make mousse with oranges from the orchard, we have cheesecake from here and seasonal fruits’	6_TOU_2
Materials, companionship and labor	Food and feed	14	8	‘In the old days, they had donkeys because you had to prepare and plough your land’	8_ORG_S2
Physical and psychological experiences	Learning and inspiration	14	8	‘Campillo de Adentro is a very beautiful area to behold, my wife painted an oil painting because it was full of chrysanthemums in bloom’	5_RES_4
Habitat creation and maintenance	Learning and inspiration	12	6	‘We observed that when we left the straw or hay to dry out until September, small hares and quail were sheltering underneath’	4_HUN_2

CRO_T: traditional crop farmer, NEI_B: basin-born neighbour, HUN: hunter, RES: researcher, TOU: tourism sector, ORG_E: environmental non-profit organisation, ORG_S: social non-profit organisation.

Table 5. Trade-offs between nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in dry rivers most reported by interviewees. NCP are classified by applying the categories proposed by the generalising perspective of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) conceptual framework (Díaz et al. 2018). The NCP A decreases the NCP B. The number of interviewees (Ni) and social groups (Ng) reporting each trade-off are indicated, as well as examples based on verbatim quotes from the interviewees.

NCP A	NCP B	Ni	Ng	Examples (verbatim quotes)	Interviewee
Physical and psychological experiences	Regulation of freshwater quality	6	3	‘They [motorhomes] pour the sewage into the dry river and when it rains, it all gets into the sea and forms a brownish mud on the rocks. These are chemical discharges that are destroying life’	8_ORG_C2
Physical and psychological experiences	Access to villages and fields	2	1	‘People hate it when motorbikes and quads tear up the dry river roads. They look at it with a lot of rejection’	3_NEI_B1
Physical and psychological experiences	Food and feed	3	3	‘I took pictures of the disaster [caused by the rally]. The dust rose 300 metres high and when it settled on the crops, it ruined the crops of small farmers’	3_NEI_R2
Physical and psychological experiences	Habitat creation and maintenance	3	2	‘Motorbikes destroy nests on the ground’	3_NEI_B3
Food and feed	Habitat creation and maintenance	1	1	‘Another traditional problem throughout the basin is agriculture. Farmers are moving closer to the dry rivers until they get into them and this destroys the potential riparian forests’	2_MAN_W2
Food and feed	Physical and psychological experiences	1	1	‘When the slope of dry river ends, sedimentary deposits appear and industrial agriculture penetrates further. This alters the landscape and reduces its values’	5_RES_2

MAN_W: water environmental manager, NEI_B: basin-born neighbour, NEI_R: region-born neighbour, RES: researcher, ORG_C: cultural non-profit organisation.

Díaz S, Pascual U, Stenseke M, Martín-López B, Watson R, Molnár Z, Hill R, Chan K, Baste I, Brauman K, et al. 2018. Assessing nature’s contributions to people. Sci. 359:270–272. doi: 10.1126/science.aap8826.

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