The event, held on the "Día del Árbol" (Tree Day) of the Valencian Community, was attended by the Regional Councillor for Infrastructure, Territory and the Environment of the Generalitat Valenciana, Isabel Bonig, and the regional delegate of Red Eléctrica in Valencia, Maite Vela.

The restoration project, which Red Eléctrica promotes and is managed by the Regional Council, will recover 17.36 hectares of La Comediana common highlands in the municipality of Albalat dels Tarongers, which was affected by a forest fire in 2008. Similarly, 9 additional acres will be repopulated through the conducting of forestry practices.

The recovery of the forests in the Sierra Calderona counts on an investment of 100,000 euros for the planting of 23,450 trees and shrubs in an area totalling 26 hectares, of which 90% will be pines and the remainder consist of other native species such as juniper berry, carob, juniper, palmetto and wild olive. To ensure a successful reforestation, prior works were carried out regarding soil preparation so as to increase infiltration of rainwater and reduce potential erosion.

The project also includes environmental education activities and volunteer programmes which will involve local people, and will provide support to two forestry management schools for the training of future professionals.

This initiative reaffirms the commitment of Red Eléctrica towards sustainable development and environmental protection, and is encompassed within the environmental policy and business strategy of the Company.

Offsetting CO2 emissions through the planting of trees
Red Eléctrica Forest is a tree planting programme initiated in 2009 that each year allows a forest within Spanish territory to be recovered and to offset some of its greenhouse gas emissions, as well as collaborating with the development of local economies as work is carried out using local groups.

The reforestation of the Sierra Calderona in Tarongers Albalat is, along with the one carried out last November in the Sierra del Molino in Calasparra (Murcia), the fourth project of this forest recovery programme, which has already recovered 411 hectares and planted 184,000 trees in the forests of Murcia, Badajoz, Teruel and Cadiz, helping to offset 54,627 tonnes of CO2. These actions have involved a total investment of 625,000 euros.

Red Eléctrica Forest in Valencia and Murcia is part of the Ardilla-ConnectingLife initiative, an environmental programme of the United Nations campaign to Plant for the Planet that aims to connect natural areas so that they may serve as ecological corridors, improving the preservation and management of ecosystems, and to promote social awareness regarding the conservation of forest resources.