On Friday, April 21, the first major action of the Green Helmets initiative began in the municipalities of Estepona and Casares: the reforestation of part of the Sierra Bermeja. In the coming months, it is planned that 90,000 seeds and trees will be planted to repopulate a total of 500 hectares.
The project has begun in the area of Los Pedregales and La Aerobase, where the manual launch of 'Nendo Dango' seed bombs and native seeds has been carried out using drones, to regenerate this public space affected by the 2021 fire.
The Green Helmets initiative is promoted by CIFAL Málaga and Amazon, with the collaboration of the Junta de Andalucía, and aims to open a citizen space to unite hundreds of people who want to work for the sustainability of the planet.
The start of the campaign was attended by Amazon's Sustainability Manager, Mónica Galeote; the Vice-Minister of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of the Junta de Andalucía, José Antonio Víquez; the director of CIFAL Málaga, Julio Andrade; and the mayors of Estepona, José María García Urbano; Júzcar, Francisco Lozano; and Casares, José Carrasco.
The Regional Council of Málaga participates through its Málaga + Viva project
Thanks to the collaboration of the municipalities of Estepona and Casares, reforestation has begun in the area of Los Pedregales and La Aerobase, where a launch of 'Nendo Dango' seed bombs has been carried out, carried out by schoolchildren from all over the province in the activities of the Malaga Provincial Council through its 'Málaga + Viva' project. These days, a total of 11,400 smart seeds will be launched using drones and manually with the participation of 100 students from the area, to collaborate in the regeneration of this public space affected by the 2021 forest fire.
The action with drones has been carried out by the Cideal Foundation, an organization with extensive experience in this field that is collaborating very actively with the 'Green Helmets' project. The start of the actions has become a great participatory event. In fact, the day began in the peri-urban park of San Isidro (Los Pedregales), where a large group of students from schools and institutes in the area gathered. Upon arrival at the park, the participants were given the Green Helmet badges and a workshop on creating seed bombs was held.
Once the workshops were finished, seeds were launched using drones, and seed pumps were launched manually in an area between the municipalities of Estepona and Casares that was highly degraded by the forest fire. The planting day was attended by collaborators from CIFAL Málaga and entities such as the "Cruz Roja", which installed a health post in the area to serve the hundreds of volunteers who participated. Reforestation work in the area will continue between the months of September and December in different municipalities of Sierra Bermeja.