• 51 hectares affected by forest fires have been recovered by planting more than 102,000 trees, mostly wild pines
• Red Eléctrica de España’s investment amounts to 155,000 euros

High-ranking officials from the Government of Castilla y León and representatives of Red Electrica de España today visited the ‘Valdediego’ public highlands in Puebla de Sanabria, where the Company and the Spanish Wood Foundation have concluded the forest recovery works for 51 hectares of land affected by fire in September 2012. Representing the local government were the Director General for Natural Environment of the Regional Government of Castilla and León; José Ángel Arranz, the Regional Delegate for Zamora, José Alberto Castro, and the Mayor of Puebla de Sanabria, and for Red Eléctrica, the Regional Delegate for the Central area, José Ignacio Fernández Somalo, and the head of the Department for the Environment, Roberto Arranz.

This project, which represents an investment of 155,000 euros for Red Electrica de España, responds to the agreement signed by the Company and the Department of Development and the Environment of the Government of Castilla y León and is included as part of the Red Electrica Forest project.

In addition to the forestry recovery works carried out, several initiatives have been performed in relation to the public use of the farmland and environmental education. Therefore, tree planting works have been complemented with the help of the ‘I plant my land’ educational programme, targeted at students of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades of all primary schools in the region of Sanabria.

Two activities were carried out: classroom workshops, where participants worked on matters related to the value of trees and their sustainable use, and also organized visits to the reforestation site, where some of the students symbolically adopted a tree that they had personally planted. In addition, participants were given a talk by the team of experts in charge of the replanting project, who explained important issues of interest for the new generations. The actions are part of ‘The Tree is Life’ project which is promoted by the Spanish Wood Foundation.

The Red Eléctrica Forest

Red Eléctrica implements the ‘Red Eléctrica Forest’ project nationwide; an environmental programme that, since 2009, has been promoted by the Company with the aim of contributing to the conservation of natural areas rich in biodiversity and the recovery of degraded areas as well as contributing to the fight against climate change.

The Puebla de Sanabria project is the ninth carried out by the Company, after those performed in Badajoz, Teruel, Cádiz, Murcia, Valencia, Vizcaya, Albacete and Majorca. This initiative responds to the commitment undertaken by the Company to working with regional governments for the sustainable, economic and social development in the regions where Company facilities are located. It also promotes the defence and respect for the environment, and the promotion of progress, culture and social well-being as essential ideals to create value in those areas where its facilities are located.

With the 155,000 euros investment for the Red Electrica Forest in Puebla de Sanabria, the company has already invested 1,439,766 euros in the nine projects carried out to date.

Moreover, with this project, Red Eléctrica offsets part of its CO2 emissions and contributes to the conservation of biodiversity and the development of local economies to the extent that reforestation works are carried out by companies or groups in the area of the project.

In particular, in the case of Puebla de Sanabria, more than 30,000 tons of CO2 will be offset, a figure that together with that offset with the rest of the Red Electrica Forest projects now totals nearly 131,126 tonnes.

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