Yesterday Club Alpino of Calasparra was one of 20 voluntary groups to be granted a share of the 435,000 euros the CAM Bank has allocated for 90 different environmental projects under the programme Volcam 91.
The grant will be used by the club’s volunteers to “control plagues and recuperate footpaths in the area affected by last year’s forest fire in the Sierra del Molino”.
The allocation of the grants coincides with the United Nations’ “World Day Against Drought and Desertification” today under the motto “The Forests Help Keep Dry Lands Alive”
The dry lands, which constitute a quarter of the planet’s surface, according to the UN, represent some 44% of the cultivated ecosystems, are home to 2,000 million people and 50% of the world’s livestock. Every year desertification is responsible for the loss of six million hectares of agricultural land.
According to the Secretary of the UN Convention: The Fight Against Desertification, Luc Gnacadja: “If everyone committed to plant one tree in an affected area and ensured that the tree survived, there would be two million more trees which would help keep the dry lands alive and would represent a legacy for future generations.”
