By IANS,
Madrid : The Spanish authorities have decided to plant 45 million trees during the 2009-2012 period as part of a $127-million programme to combat desertification and the impact of man-made climate change, EFE reported Saturday.
The project will generate more than 670,000 workdays, an employment rate equivalent to 2,997 people a year, according to Environment Minister Elena Espinosa.
Espinosa said that the planned investment “gives an idea of the government’s commitment to the defence and encouragement of biodiversity” and added that “new jobs will be created to carry out this task”.
The minister said that reforestation will protect endemic tree species and will be carried out over an total area of 61,300 hectares.
At the same time, planting trees will lead to the recovery and increase of biodiversity and of endemic ecosystems, the improvement and preservation of the landscape, and the consolidation of ecological corridors, the minister said.