At Iberdrola, we are in luck. An environmental project set up in 2008 has continued over the years and is bearing fruit or, rather, is extending considerably. I am referring to the Iberdrola Forest.
This initiative began in 2007, when we contacted the Lurgaia Foundation in order to team up with them in socio-environmental projects with the aim of putting some principles into practice with regards to our Biodiversity Policy. Among the environmental actions that were presented to us, we very much liked the indigenous forest conservation and restoration project, as it enabled us to do our bit for solving one of the main environmental problems in the Basque Country: the disappearance of indigenous forests.
It enabled us to involve workers directly through the celebration of an annual Iberdrola Tree Day, and it also offered us the chance to collaborate with the Gorabide Association, which works with people with intellectual disabilities. We thus saw the opportunity in the Iberdrola Forest to raise awareness of the importance of recovering and preserving wooded areas. And this is how the Iberdrola Forest project began!
For the last five years we have been working on a piece of land that had been used for forestry, based on the indigenous species, the Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) trees. This land was transferred by its owner in order to gradually remove the existing plantation and replace it with an indigenous forest. Despite the fact that it might seem that not removing the entire plantation in one go could slow down the conservation and recovery of the indigenous forest, the carrying out of gradual removals, with very unaggressive methods and not using heavy machinery, has proved to be highly beneficial for the land’s stability.
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For this reason, work has only been done on a two hectares surface area, of the five to be restored, which correspond to the high area, where the plantation has already been removed completely. But this is only the beginning. From now on, a number of activities need to be carried out such as cleaning and preparing the area, selective fencing where necessary, manually controlling the reappearance of eucalyptus, scrub clearing, removing the old forest trails used for timber transport, etc.
The Lurgaia Foundation has managed and conducted this work over the last five years. The Iberdrola and Gorabide volunteers have contributed to the most significant part of the project: the planting of various species of indigenous trees and shrubs (birch, oak, European spindle, quercus, common hawthorn, etc.). These have all been two or three-year old seedlings from nurseries guaranteeing their local origin.
Forests are characterised by a total haphazard arrangement of their trees and shrubs, since various seeds are scattered randomly. For this reason, and because we sought a natural-looking forest, planting has always been done in a complete disorganised manner as regards both the location and the species.
Voluntary work has been carried out in the first quarter of the year, which is the period recommended for seedling planting, before spring, so as to affect the life cycle of the plants as little as possible. Despite the cold, rain and hail that often accompanied us, the enthusiasm and smiles have prevailed throughout this project. Nearly 300 people, including Iberdrola workers and disabled persons from the Gorabide Association, have planted over 2,000 trees and shrubs, which are beginning to shape the future Iberdrola Forest.
I would like to encourage employees and anyone interested in taking part in the next stage of this project or in other social actions that promote caring for the environment and working towards social integration of the disabled.
