ERDF Regional Operational Programme Murcia 2021-2027 - Objective 2.7: Increase the protection and conservation of nature, biodiversity and green infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reduce all forms of pollution.

The loss of biodiversity is one of the most serious processes from an environmental point of view, with multiple factors contributing to its acceleration, such as climate change, pollution and habitat destruction. The discharges derived from crops in the Campo de Cartagena are causing the Mar Menor area to suffer an excess of nutrients, which increases the number of algae and phytoplankton, as well as excessive mortality of marine fauna.

The needs identified in the diagnosis that justify the selection of this Specific Objective are:
-Management of natural areas.
-Sustainable groundwater management.
-Deterioration of the Mar Menor due, among others, to agricultural activity and urban pressure in its surroundings.
-Forested forest area less than the area destined for agricultural exploitation. In view of the above, and taking into account the Country Specific Recommendations (CSR), the following priority areas for investment are considered:
-Actions for the recovery and conservation of the Mar Menor.

The River Basin Management Plan is a key requirement of the EU Water Framework Directive and includes as its main key features an appraisal of the status of water resources, the setting of policy objectives for the management of water resources and the identification (and implementation) of key measures to enable the achievement of the RBMP’s policy objectives.
One of the key objectives of Malta’s RBMP, and hence of Malta’s Water Policy Framework, is the restoration of the quantitative and chemical status of groundwater bodies – where specific focus in placed on addressing contamination by nutrients, in view of the relevance of such contamination to the groundwater environment in the Maltese islands.
The Programme of Measures outlined in Malta’s RBMP therefore includes a suite of measures aimed at addressing nutrient contamination in groundwater, and also mitigate the impact of such contamination on water supply security. Therefore measures under the RBMP look at the reduction of contamination at source, by working with the Agricultural Sector to further limit overfertilization, as well as measures aimed at increasing the production capacity of desalinated sea-water and water transfer capacity within the distribution network to ensure the blending capacity needed to ensure the achievement of the water quality requirements of the EU DWD at island level.

The Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (Nitrate Directive, ND) requires in Art. 5 the establishment of the action programmes (AP) in respect of designated vulnerable zones. Action programmes consist of the mandatory measures in Annex III of the ND and measures prescribed in the code(s) of good agricultural practice established in accordance with Art. 4 of the ND. The programme shall be reviewed at least every 4 years and may relate to all vulnerable zones in the territory or different programmes may be established for different vulnerable zones.

The AP outlines specific measures to be implemented in the nitrate vulnerable zones. Measures may include storage and application practices, rules on livestock waste management, restrictions on the timing and methods of spreading fertilizers, and promoting good agricultural practices. These measures should ensure balanced fertilisation, i.e. that fertilisers, and especially nitrogen fertilisers, are used with the highest efficiency, minimising nitrates losses in the environment, thus reducing and preventing water pollution form agricultural sources.

In Slovakia, the AP is defined in the Act No. 136/2000 Coll. on fertilizers (in §10b and §10c) as amended by subsequent regulations. Additionally, a system of internal differentiation of vulnerable zones into areas with a low, medium and high degree of management restriction was developed

The policy instrument addressed, the Statutory Order BEK no 483 of 08/05/2023 on designation of drinking water resources, designates 1) areas of drinking water interest (OD) 2) areas of special drinking water interest (OSD) 3) catchment areas for public water supplies outside OSD 4) subareas under pt. 2 and 3 that are particularly vulnerable to pollution 5) subareas within the vulnerable areas, that require special protection and 6) protection areas around extraction wells (BNBO).

Pt. 4 and 5 are the main focus of this project. The objective of these two points is to ensure the necessary protection of the current and future drinking water resources. In the Statutory Order, maps that cover the entire area of Denmark are included in Appendix 3 and 4. These maps showcase the current designated nitrate vulnerable areas (NFI) and special protection areas (IO). The data is exhibited digitally and publicly available on The Danish Environmental Portal.

The designated NFI and IO provide the legal framework for the local municipalities to implement their Action Plans within these areas. The Action Plans includes possible restrictions on land use and other human activities.

The addressed policy instrument is the Austrian ÖPUL 2023 Special Directive (including eco-schemes) within the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan, more precisely, measure 17 “Preventive groundwater protection - arable land”.

This measure contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural production areas. It serves to improve surface and groundwater protection and to maintain and improve the quality of the soil and soil fertility. Main characteristics of this measure are:
• Obligation for farmers to record nitrogen use and nitrogen balance on both farm and field scale.
• Consideration of high nitrogen surpluses when planning fertilization for upcoming crops
• Participation at training programs for farmers
• Regularly soil analyses on plant available nitrogen

The main objective of the "Preventive Groundwater Protection - Arable Land" policy, as implemented in the Austrian framework of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy, is to improve groundwater protection against agricultural nitrogen surpluses. It includes several measures to reduce fertiliser intensity and increase nitrogen use efficiency on arable land.

Since 2007 the whole Flemish territory has been designated as a vulnerable zone, which implies that the action programme and therefore the manure legislation apply to the whole territory. Flanders has developed a Code of good agricultural practice to provide a general protection level of all waters against pollution by nitrates.

The Manure legislation (Manure Decree) implements the Nitrates Directive and sets regulations for applying manure, manure storage, fertilising standards etc. The current Flemish Manure legislation contains the following measures:
• Closed periods for the application of manure, artificial fertilisers and organic fertilisers:
• Restrictions of the use of fertilisers on sloping soil, on water-saturated, flooded, frozen or snow-covered soil near watercourses
• Mandatory low-emission application of fertilisers
• Nitrate residue measurements in the autumn with measures if results are too high
• Nitrogen and phosphorus maximum fertilisation standards
• Livestock manure production excretion standards
• Nutrient emission rights to limit livestock production
• Manure processing of excess manure
• Transport of manure
• Controls, fines and sanctions
• Guidance of farmers

SRADDET is a regional strategic plan, co-developed with many stakeholders, approved in 2019 and since then local planning documents must be compatible with its guidelines. SRADDET integrates a wide range of sectoral policies such as transport, economic development, environment, cross-border cooperation, among others
Two focus areas are defined: Changing the model for virtuous development in our territories (Axis 1) and Overcoming borders and strengthening cohesion for a connected European area (Axis 2)
In axis 1, 17 objectives must be achieved, especially:
- Objective 8 Developing sustainable, high-quality agriculture for export and local markets,
- Objective 10 Improve qualitative and quantitative management of water resources.
Priority for objective 10, is to provide high-quality drinking water, giving priority to protecting catchment areas at source rather than complex treatment. Measure addressed is to improve knowledge concerning groundwater and to support the implementation of actions to restore water quality.
Concerning objective 8, a strategy for regional agriculture by 2030 has been defined.
This strategy is structured around 15 priorities, 3 of which deal with nitrate issues:
- Improve qualitative and quantitative management of water resources
- Promoting the use of technological, digital, technical or organisational solutions to limit the use of fossil or synthetic inputs
- Develop protein and nitrogen production and recovery sectors to promote regional autonomy