Renatura Rivas

The process of renaturalizing green spaces and vacant lots in western Rivas needs to incorporate a territorial vision of the ecological environment in which the city is located. This larger-scale vision will give renaturalization its full meaning and allow, sooner rather than later, the more urban green spaces to be linked to the natural spaces of the Rivas area, building a large connected ecological network. After studying these territories and fully understanding their natural values, we discover their formidable potential to build a truly natural, diverse, and valuable structure.

In addition, this renaturalization project will be linked to other ecological strategy operations, in particular, the Metropolitan Forest proposed by the Madrid City Council and the Green Arch proposed by the Community of Madrid. Together with these, Rivas will be able to connect its forests and parks with the mountains—Guadarrama, Somosierra, and Ayllón—to the north, and with the plains of the Manzanares, Jarama, and Tagus rivers to the south.

But this greening proposal also needs to pay attention to small details, on a local scale, and therefore proposes renaturalization strategies that are people-friendly—whether young or old, small or large—taking into account their visual and climatic comfort and their sense of security, and freely promoting their sociability, their identity—whatever that may be for each individual—and their daily activities.

In any case, we propose the use of the most innovative and successful techniques for renaturalization and biodiversity promotion, many of which are related to soil condition and the possibility of enriching it. The soils found in some of the areas covered by this project are very poor and infertile, so it is critical to select the right times and systems for the renaturalization process to enable nature to thrive and flourish, and to do so, from a certain point onwards, with its own resources, minimizing maintenance work. [1] Charles Eliot and Sylvester Baxter, Map of the Boston Metropolitan District, 1893 [Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1893].[2] Frederick Law Olmstead, Emerald Necklace. Boston, 1872-1892. The Emerald Necklace is a sequence of green spaces covering more than 300 hectares that connects the Boston Common—which dates back to the colonial period—and the Public Park of 1837, with five parks and an arboretum designed by Olmstead, linking parks, green corridors, and river areas. [3] The Metropolitan Forest is a 75-km-long forest belt that will encircle the city of Madrid to form a ‘green corridor’ with the greatest possible ecological continuity. [4] The Green Arch will connect the three Regional Parks of the Community of Madrid—Cuenca Alta del Manzanares, Curso Medio del río Guadarrama y su entorno, and Curso Bajo de los ríos Manzanares y Jarama (Sureste)— to promote, conserve, and protect biodiversity.