Case Study Area Murcia launches avitivities to connect soils and pollinators

The ProPollSoil Case Study Areas have kicked off their activities by organising first meetings with CSA partners and stakeholders. The second the Case Study Areas to begin their activities was the CSA Murcia, which also serves as a Living Lab in the EU funded Butterfly project.

On 21 January 2026, the inaugural meeting of the case study area of ProPollSoil took place in the auditorium of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine’s farm. The CSA Murcia aims to promote more sustainable almond farming in the Region of Murcia, based on the conservation of pollinating insects and the improvement of soil health. Through a participatory approach, farmers, researchers and other local stakeholders will collaborate on designing solutions tailored to local conditions. In this way, the project contributes to progress towards a more sustainable agricultural model aligned with European biodiversity policies. To facilitate this collaboration, the Living Lab framework and case study area have been established, involving various sectors such as cooperatives and farmers, businesses, NGOs, public authorities and research bodies.

During the meeting, the objectives of the project were presented by principal investigator Pilar De la Rúa Tarín and researcher Vicente Martínez López. Furthermore, various aspects of the current situation and the challenges facing the nut sector in the Region of Murcia were outlined by Mr Pedro Guerrero Cuadrado, nut sector representative of the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Murcia. The event also featured a presentation by Dr Alicia Morugán from the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, who spoke about her research carried out as part of the CLIMCOVER project, in which she highlighted the benefits of plant cover on soil health in a super-intensive almond orchard. Finally, members of the company FITOSOIL discussed the analytical activities they carry out to promote innovation, digitalisation and social commitment in the agri-food sector.

Following the subsequent discussion between members of the Living Lab and the case study group, there was a clear interest in the development of new research approaches, and the potential for proposing policies and measures that generate positive knock-on effects for the conservation of pollinating insects.