The International Day of Forests, celebrated since 2012, pays tribute to the importance of all types of forests and tries to raise awareness of this issue. On the occasion of this day, the EDP Foundation has organized an initiative for the conservation of the environment in collaboration with EDP’s Volunteer Program and the Fund for Wild Animals’ Protection (FAPAS). This activity, in which more than 50 people took part, has been carried out in the natural environment of El Siblu, in Teverga, and has consisted in the planting of fruit trees, like apple, pear or rowan trees, in order to replant the area and facilitate the feeding of the brown bear.

Volunteers and collaborators have planted 100 trees, taking into account the indications required in order to carry out the processes of digging and protection without harming the wild fauna.

This activity falls within the partnership framework of the EDP Foundation with FAPAS, through which more than 10 000 trees are planted in Spain each year. Forests cover one third of the land area of the planet, accommodating 80 % of the global biodiversity.

Vanda Martins, director of the EDP Foundation, has also collaborated in this activity and has ensured that the “alliance with FAPAS is an example of its commitment towards the preservation of the environment. For more than 20 years, this cooperation has already planted more than 340 000 trees.  Moreover, whenever possible, we join the energy of all our employees (EDP), like we did today, in order to contribute to plant a better future for all of us.”

FAPAS is a prestigious organization, with more than 30 years of experience, and its goals are still the study and conservation of biodiversity through the most representative species of the Cantabrian ecosystems. Fighting against poaching, ensuring the bears’ feeding and tranquility in the main moments of their lives’ cycle and raising social awareness, have been the keys of the Bear Project since its beginnings.

With this initiative, the EDP Foundation reinforces its commitment with the preservation of the environment and biodiversity, and contributes to the protection of an emblematic species, as is the brown bear. The EDP Foundation has been collaborating for years with associations related with the environment, being the preservation and recovering of singular environmental species one of its work priority axis.