– During the conference, the experts analyzed the commitment to the installation of nest boxes and insect hotels to conserve the biodiversity of ecosystems and control pests in a natural way
– Teresa Carrillo, director of Life Resilience, presented some practical examples that have been carried out in the demonstration farms of the project in Spain, Portugal and Italy
– You can see the full video of the day through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeXA7OaO89A (video in Spanish)
Life Resilience, a project co-financed by the LIFE program of the European Union, whose main objective is the prevention of Xylella fastidiosa in high-density olive and almond farms; held on Thursday, May 6, an online conference under the title «Biodiversity and pest control with nest boxes and insect hotels». During the session, several experts analyzed the commitment to the installation of these sustainable tools in growing areas to promote biological balance in the ecosystem and control pests in a natural way.
Carlos Ruiz, technician of the LIFE Olivares Vivos project (SEO/BirdLife), was in charge of exposing the use of nest boxes to recover biodiversity in the olive grove and transform it into profitability. During his presentation, he commented that “birds need their habitats and they need them well preserved. Nest boxes should be viewed as a complementary tool, bearing in mind that not all birds are likely to use artificial nests. In addition, a biodiversity recovery strategy must have other actions, such as maintaining and recovering herbaceous covers and restoring or creating landscape elements ”.
Later, Antonio Rubio, environmentalologist at La Granja de Bitxos, referred to the insect hotels as “the imitation of the galleries used by insects in the natural environment. There are certain types of solitary bees and wasps that take advantage of and adapt holes in the wood, galleries previously dug by other insects, to use them as a place to breed ”.
Finally, Teresa Carrillo, director of the Life Resilience project, presented some practical examples that have been carried out in the demonstration farms of the project to stop and control the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, while respecting biodiversity and conserving the environment. «These practices should increase biodiversity and reduce water consumption, the carbon footprint and the incidence of pests and diseases without compromising the performance of the farm,» commented the director.