Our group (CEADIR) is interested in participating in consortiums that work on the conservation and improvement of priority habitats such as the Spanish "Dehesa" and similar systems in the rest of Europe.
The use of this agrosilvopastoral system that, created by the geo-historical and sociocultural action of human beings, sustainably integrates (ecological, economic, social and culturally) agricultural, livestock -including beekeeping- and forestry productive uses, is framed in a model of natural agriculture (eco-cultural moulding of the native Mediterranean forest) that has ancestrally overcome the adverse limiting conditions of the physical environment (edaphoclimatic, etc.); with vital importance for the stability of water and nutrient cycles, temperature regulation and the maintenance of plant, animal and agronomic diversity, etc.
In addition to this high socio-natural value, it is one of the few systems with agricultural use included in the Habitats Directive 6310 (under the figure of SCI/LIC and integrated into the Natura 2000 Network). At the same time, a high level of reemployment and minimal dependence on inputs make it an ecologically and economically profitable system, despite the adverse abiotic conditions in which it is developed. Thus, the Dehesa is recognized as one of the most charismatic agrosystems in Europe and the world. However, the resilience of the system, currently different problems threaten its socio-ecological processes and the functioning of the ecosystem components (water and nutrient cycle, energy flows or the dynamics of natural and anthropic communities); compromising the long-term sustainability of the Dehesa.
Involving agroforestry and pastoral activities as the main tool to conserve the rural population and the natural environment where they are developed, using techniques compatible with the European organic farming certification. And assessing the contribution of such certification to sustainable territorial development.
Being a cohesive multidisciplinary group of 50 researchers, our research interest is very multifaceted, which will bring to the consortium a plural vision of the objective of the Agroecology call. We can draw on the institutional resources and research services supplied by the University of Salamanca, which gives us great power of execution in the research topics highlighted by the call.

This proposal involves the Center for Environmental Studies and Rural Dynamization (CEADIR) of the University of Salamanca, composed of four research groups dedicated to food production, processing and characterization, environmental geomorphology and geological heritage, applied ecology: ecosystem restoration and biodiversity management, zoonotic disease, One Health, human diversity and conservation biology. Involving a large number of researchers (50) with experience in the study of the impacts of productive activities on the natural environment from various points of view. We focus our proposal on working from the field of agroforestry and pastoral activities that cohabit natural environments, with years of experience in the field of transition from transitional activities to certification in organic farming. The objectives of the research are focused on studying the economic use of natural areas and their impact on the environment. To characterize the consequences of the abandonment of the rural landscape on the natural environment from the human, animal income, health, plant and animal biodiversity, landscape, soil, water, ecosystemic systems, etc. point of view. All of them are coordinated in the center which makes a uniform unity of action and rapid communication channels between them.
In addition to CEADIR, some other researchers from social sciences (Geography, Anthropology) linked to the Research Unit Territory, Innovation & Development (TEIDE) of the university of Salamanca are involved in this proposal. These researchers have a long research background in key topics related to the relationship between agroforestry & husbandry, on one side, and sustainable rural development, on the other. The have been engaged in research grants and contracts focused on the following issues: support to Local Action Groups; protected designations of origin and economic development in rural areas; the ‘Dehesa’ as a singular landscape; alternative forms of food provision and rural development; ethics and values related to the shift towards a more sustainable and localized food supply system; market and non-market interactions among small rural producers of organic and agroecological food.