Nature-based solutions to contrast climate change effects, increase resilience and biodiversity: action strategies of PHUSICOS Project in the Massaciuccoli Lake Basin (Tuscany, Italy)

The catchment of Massaciuccoli Lake is characterized by large-scale and intensive agricultural use and the presence of a valuable and vulnerable receiving water body (SIC and Ramsar convention). Erosion, subsidence and lake eutrophication and siltation are the main problems facing the area. In this context, the Phusicos Project aims to identify, apply and monitor the Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) able to restore the pristine conditions according to the EU Water Framework and Floods Directives. NBSs are intended to limit soil and nutrient loss from cultivated fields and to treat superficial waters from the ditches network before they arrive to the lake. NBS consist of large-scale buffer- strips combined with conservation agriculture techniques (minimum-tillage and cover-crops), gently management of channels and sediment traps. The effectiveness of NBSs are analysed through multidisciplinary activities including stratigraphic and grain size analyses, soil sampling, key horizons dating, analysis of precipitation and temperature trend, hydrogeological and geochemical characterization of soil and water, qualitative-quantitative and solid transport monitoring of superficial waters and groundwater, and crop productivity. A further objective is to replicate NBS as "best practice" in other areas by providing farms with new opportunities for growth, development and revitalization in the post-Covid-19 phase.