P&G employees in Spain sponsor thousands of olive trees in Teruel to help stop the abandonment of rural areas

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has joined the ‘Apadrina Un Olivo’ initiative with which it is intended to stop the abandonment of rural areas while generating a positive climate impact.

By involving its employees in this project, it will recover 3,476 abandoned centenary olive trees in Oliete, Teruel, enough to retain 1,600 tons of CO2 in its biomass.

P&G’s SOLIDARITY ACTION

With this initiative, not only will the natural capacity of these centuries-old olive trees be recovered to act as carbon sinks, but it will also help to sustain the ecosystem and local biodiversity.

In addition, P&G wants to amplify the impact of this project, that is why it has the collaboration of its employees in Spain and each olive tree will be linked to a worker from the company.

In this way, it is intended to promote visits to the town and its staff will be able to know first-hand the environmental impact generated by ‘Apadrina Un Olivo’, in addition to the implications that this initiative shows in this region that has suffered increasing depopulation for years.

‘SPONSOR AN OLIVE TREE’

The recovery of this abandoned olive grove in Oliete will promote a sustainable rural development model with social inclusion that will allow the generation of a positive impact in Oliete, with just 363 inhabitants and 100,000 abandoned olive trees and a socioeconomic boost for the area, contributing to job creation and the promotion of local tourism in the region.

Vanessa Prats, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of P&G in Spain and Portugal, pointed out that: “impact on communities and environmental sustainability are two basic pillars of P&G around the world, and we know that we are not alone on this path. To travel it, we will continue to reach transformative alliances with organizations such as Apadrina Un Olivo that allow us to revert to the benefit of society and the planet.”

In addition, José Alfredo Martín, co-founder of the initiative, assures that in addition to the implications on the environmental impact: “We are demonstrating that a future is possible for rural areas and that there are solutions to stop the abandonment of rural areas”.

RECOVER INSTEAD OF PLANTING

P&G also highlights the differential nature of the initiative, since it contributes to mitigating the company’s emissions in Spain and Portugal in an innovative way: recovering centenary olive trees as an alternative to planting new specimens.

Why? We must know that a newly planted tree takes an average of 10 to 15 years to capture CO2 significantly, while recovering trees the effect is immediate, in addition to the promotion of biodiversity that it supposes.

And it is that the experts in this project also ensure that for each recovered olive tree also has an immediate atmospheric impact and provides the necessary oxygen for 4 people in one day.

This collaboration by P&G is one of the 21 projects that it will carry out in our country within the framework of ‘Lead with love’, its global action program through which it will carry out 2,021 projects throughout the world during 2021, focused on its pillars of impact on the community, environmental sustainability and equality and inclusion.