Iberdrola plants more than three million trees and will reach five by the end of the year
Iberdrola is committed to the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems and therefore created the Trees for Biodiversity and Forest Ecosystems Programme in 2020 with the aim of promoting the conservation and planting of 20 million trees by 2030. Since its launch it has promoted the planting of 3.4 million trees and by the end of the year the figure will reach five.
"The trees programme has its main focus on the protection and promotion of biodiversity, where forests play a major role. But without neglecting the social aspects and the fight against climate change that it can offer. In Spain alone, it has promoted the planting of more than 932,000 trees in conservation and ecosystem restoration projects on more than 900 hectares", says Emilio Tejedor, director of Iberdrola's Tree Programme.
In the rest of Europe, more than 457,000 trees have been planted. Among these, the actions in the Támega hydroelectric complex (Portugal) with more than 377,000 trees and in Greece with almost 75,000 trees planted as part of onshore wind developments stand out.
In Brazil, in recent years, actions have been carried out in the Permanent Preservation Areas for conservation and regeneration in more than 8,975 hectares and monitoring and conservation in more than 18,400 hectares. In total, more than one million specimens have been planted.
Among last year's actions, it is worth highlighting the continuation of the creation of the Biodiversity Corridor between the forested areas of the Iguaçu National Park - PNI and the Area of Direct Influence (AID) of the Baixo Iguaçu UHE, in the vicinity of the reservoir. To date, conservation work has been carried out on 1,135 hectares and more than 110,000 trees have been planted. The corridor will consist of more than 3,000 hectares.
In addition, work has been extended in the development of the Corumbá and Telespires Permanent Protection Areas where more than 50,000 trees have been planted by 2023, in addition to the 54,800 trees on 56.6 hectares in the Luzia Solar Complex.
The grid businesses of Neoenergia, the company's Brazilian subsidiary, carried out forest restoration actions in 2023 in which approximately 7,200 trees of native species were planted in São Paulo and Pernambuco, respectively.
In the United Kingdom, more than 890,000 trees have been planted, mainly as part of the Kilgallioch Onshore Wind Farm (Scotland). More than 1,600 trees were planted to compensate for the land occupied by the East Anglia One offshore wind farm's onshore cable.
In Mexico, nearly 70,000 trees were planted. In the Central American country, maintenance continued on the more than 25 hectares planted in 2019 at the La Venta III wind farm and the 38 hectares at the Escobedo combined cycle plant (Northeast), where to date more than 23,500 trees have been planted at the latter site.
Reforestations through the volunteer programme
As part of the global volunteer programme promoted in all countries, various reforestations have been carried out by volunteer employees and their families.
"Iberdrola's social and environmental commitment is fully shared by the people who work at our company and who year after year dedicate their time to helping, contributing to social well-being and progress while preserving the environment and sustainability", says Begoña Barberá, head of Diversity and Social Projects at the energy company.
Thanks to these initiatives, volunteers have planted almost 30,000 trees in Spain, 25,000 in Brazil and more than 15,000 in Mexico. In the United Kingdom, the "Trees For Life" project continues, where this year 400 trees were planted in the grove owned by ScottishPower, Iberdrola's Scottish subsidiary. In Spain, since 2008 we have been collaborating with Fundación Lurgaia in the recovery of the native forest of Bermeo and Muxica in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, Bizkaia, with the planting of 10,000 trees of 22 different species. In Madrid, volunteers are recovering one of its largest lungs, the Casa de Campo, after the damage suffered by Filomena, more than 4,000 trees have been planted, and in Solosancho, Ávila, more than 1,300 trees have been reforested to recover land affected by the fire in Navalacruz.
In total, the company has planted 3.4 million trees to date.
