The “Vinjoy Foundation – EDP Foundation Forest” is born, a project aiming for the recovery of Oviedo’s woodland heritage and to increase biodiversity | EDP España

The “Vinjoy Foundation – EDP Foundation Forest” is already a reality in Mount Naranco thanks to the Oviedo City Council’s donation of terrain previously owned by the city. A two-hectare forest is the result of reforestation and the recovery of land that had deteriorated due to the planting of eucalyptus trees and last year’s wildfires, thanks to the planting of 1,500 trees of native species, mainly oak and birch, as well as other bush species.

Several personalities have attended the planting event: Alfredo Canteli, mayor of the Oviedo City Council; José Ramón Pando, councilman for licensing and urban planning discipline of the Oviedo City Council; Daniel Tarrio, deputy councilman for basic services of the Oviedo City Council; David Artime, director-general for educational inclusion and management; Jorgelina Expósito, head of transversal activities of the EDP Foundation, and Adolfo Rivas, director of the Vinjoy Foundation; among other volunteers and participants.

Alfredo Canteli, mayor of the Oviedo City Council, highlighted the importance of “reforesting this area, which suffered so much during the last wildfire.” He also gave his thanks for the Vinjoy Foundation and the EDP Foundation’s work “paving the way so that all these trees arrive as soon as possible, thus turning the Naranco into the lung that Oviedo needs.”

Jorgelina Expósito, head of transversal activities of the EDP Foundation, emphasized the importance of “preserving and restoring singular environmental spaces, and in this sense Mount Naranco is essential for the city and a symbol of Asturias that holds a great historical, cultural and natural heritage.”

This is an initiative of the Vinjoy Foundation, an entity whose activity is linked to that of collectives and situations in need of solidarity social action. This way, its connection to the EDP Foundation is formed, another entity that works towards building a more sustainable, fairer, more inclusive and more equal society through programs such as EDP Solidarity Energy, a program that not only contributes to a fair and inclusive energy transition, but also supports projects promoting rural development and care for the elderly in the areas where the company has a presence. Since its launch in 2015, EDP Solidarity Energy has invested 5 million euros in financing more than 170 projects, thus benefitting 560,000 people.

This project contemplates two different interventions; in addition to the creation of the forest inaugurated today, a small “forest workshop” will also be created in the Vinjoy Foundation’s terrains. These workshops, which comprise an educational, socio-educational and therapeutic intervention with students and other participants, will be dedicated to the planting of tree, bush and aromatic species in the terrains of the Vinjoy Foundation.

The EDP Foundation began its tree-planting program in 2009. Since then, it has planted more than 170,000 trees in Asturias, with prominent initiatives such as the planting of trees in the Acebera woodland area, in Lugones. In Oviedo, it has carried out plantings at Mount Naranco on two occasions, as well as in the Winter Park.