Abstract

The Cocoon System: Ecotechnology for Ecological
Restoration and Rainfed Agriculture in the
Mediterranean Basin †
Vicenç Carabassa 1,3,*, Ander Achotegui-Castells 2, Xavier Domene 1,3 and Josep Maria Alcañiz 1,3
 1 CREAF, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain; x.domene@creaf.uab.cat (X.D.);
   josemaria.alcaniz@uab.cat (J.M.A.)
 2 Fundació Emys, Carretera de Santa Coloma km 21.1, 17421 Riudarenes, Catalonia, Spain;

   ander@funacioemys.org
 3 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain

 * Correspondence: v.carabassa@creaf.uab.cat
 † Presented at TERRAenVISION 2019, Barcelona, Spain, 2–7 September 2019.

 Published: 20 December 2019

 Abstract: Ecological restoration projects of degraded natural areas or rainfed agriculture in the
 Mediterranean region, especially when they include the plantation of woody species, generally
 shown to be very expensive and inefficient, mainly due to the large number of leaks during the first
 summer drought. Even in cases where support irrigation is carried out, medium-term mortality
 rates remain high, as root systems developed under irrigation conditions present superficial growth
 being more vulnerable to drought episodes. One of the current initiatives to address this problem is
 the so-called “Cocoon”. It is a 100% biodegradable device, built with recycled plant fibers. It is
 designed to reduce water stress for the planted seedlings during the first drought season, while also
 encouraging the development of a deep root system. This device has been successfully implemented
 in various countries around the world and in a wide range of different environmental conditions
 and objectives, from the restoration of areas affected by desertification to the recovery of agricultural
 uses in abandoned lands. Results after first summer drought demonstrate that Cocoon
 ecotechnology is working well, improving survival ratios and physiological state of the seedlings,
 despite its efficacy depends on the species and the environmental conditions of the site. Moreover,
 Cocoon is acting as refuge for some insects and could favor the growing of some commercially
 interesting fungi. In general, the perception of the agricultural and forestry owners, and the
 administrations involved, is very positive.

 Keywords: arid and semi-arid ecosystems, climate change adaptation, afforestation, seedling
 establishment, summer drought




                        © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
                        article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
                        (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).




Proceedings 2019, 30, 33; doi:10.3390/proceedings2019030033                     www.mdpi.com/journal/proceedings