The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, participated today in Ávila, in the presentation of the publication “Resin: a tool for the conservation of our pine forests”, published by the Foundation Center for Services and Promotion of Forestry and its Industry of Castilla y León (CESEFOR). within the framework of the V Spanish Forestry Congress that was inaugurated yesterday with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation.

This publication, which is part of a joint project between the Biodiversity Foundation and CESEFOR, is based on a diagnosis of the resin sector and analyses the possibilities of sustainable use of pine forests (through the mechanisation of processes) as a guarantee of conservation of plain pine forests.

The project aims to promote interest in the future of the resin sector and, based on the experiences obtained in other geographical areas, promote the modernisation of its extraction. This would also result in an improvement in working conditions and profitability in the sector.

In this sense, a diagnosis of the sector has been prepared and, with the support of the National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA), a bibliographic analysis of previous experiences is carried out, both in Spain and worldwide. In addition, the project includes resin mechanization tests, during two campaigns, in the field, in order to evaluate the incidence of different variables.

On the other hand, within the same framework of the Congress, Ana Leiva participates in the presentation of the educational programs of the Edufores Foundation, where the content of the “Janus Program” has been advanced, which will be launched by this entity from October. This project is co-financed by the European Social Fund within the framework of the Empleaverde program of the Biodiversity Foundation, and has the collaboration of the Regional Governments of Cantabria and Castilla-La Mancha.

The “Janus Programme” is aimed primarily at workers from disadvantaged groups (women, workers over 45 years of age, low-skilled workers, disabled and immigrants) who carry out their activity in the environmental, forestry and private education sectors in the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Cantabria and Castilla-La Mancha.

Among the activities planned in the project are the development of an e-learning platform for environmental and forestry training, conferences, workshops, a knowledge exchange network and online advice for start-ups in the environmental and forestry sector.

It is expected that more than a thousand recipients will participate in this project and has, among other objectives, to increase the qualification of workers related to the environmental and forestry world and to promote the sustainability of economic activities in this area of activity. In addition to promoting the modernization of companies in the sector and promoting the creation of new companies.