With the participation of about 5,000 people a year, we have allocated more than €600,000 for volunteering actions.

In 1985, the United Nations General Assembly invited governments to celebrate International Volunteer Day every December 5. This year, under the slogan “With volunteering, together we are stronger”, the aim is to thank volunteers, as well as to show their impact and relevant role during the COVID-19 crisis.

At the Biodiversity Foundation we have been working for years on volunteer programs that promote the conservation of biodiversity and the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals. To date, more than 30,000 volunteers have already participated in cleaning rivers, beaches and all kinds of ecosystems that may have been damaged by human action.

In 2012, we launched the “Beaches, rivers, volunteering and land stewardship” programme to promote the involvement of citizens in the conservation of the coast, inter-community watersheds and other natural spaces. To this end, we created, consolidated and expanded a network that was involved in the maintenance and improvement of these spaces of high natural value.

Since 2018, with the “Environmental Volunteering Program in Beaches and Rivers”, we have involved young people and children to actively participate in the conservation of natural ecosystems, the coastline and watersheds.

With the participation of about 5,000 people a year, we have allocated more than €600,000 for volunteering actions. In each edition, activities have been developed for waste collection, reforestation, maintenance, adaptation and improvement of natural spaces, conservation of ecosystems, elimination of invasive species, monitoring of species, training and awareness days and actions in the field of rivers, beaches and river basin districts.

During this year, given the health situation, it has not been possible to develop the volunteer programs normally, but in 2021 we will work, for example, on new volunteer actions framed in the LIFE Intemares project.

Thank you volunteers for your work!