The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has held a meeting of the Emprendeverde Network to make visible the opportunities offered by Biosphere Reserves to promote green entrepreneurship. This event has focused on the importance of green entrepreneurship for the ecological transition and how Biosphere Reserves promote the conservation of biodiversity and the economic and social development of territories. The conference was inaugurated by the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Elena Pita, who stressed that “the promotion of SMEs and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainable businesses play a fundamental role in the ecological transition, so support actions and policies are essential to help face the challenges they face. The success of his ideas will be a definitive step for economic and social transformation”. The meeting was held within the framework of the #ItinerariosEmprendeverde, the free training service of the Emprendeverde Network (REV), co-financed by the European Social Fund, thanks to which some 500 people have been trained (between April 2021 and April 2023) interested in starting a green enterprise. In addition, this conference is part of the cycle Emprendeverde in Biosphere Reserves, which the Biodiversity Foundation has carried out together with the Autonomous Agency of National Parks (OAPN) and the Spanish Network of Biosphere Reserves. In this sense, Nacho Achúcarro, head of service of the OAPN, who participated in the round table, stressed that, “in a current global context in which a transition towards other development models more respectful of our environment is advocated, it is an opportunity to mobilise society in the recognition of these territories as spaces that respond to this need and in which it is evident that it is possible to live from in a sustainable way and in harmony with ecosystems”. There was also the participation of three entrepreneurs who have launched entrepreneurial projects in these territories and have served as inspiration to the participants. Belén Matilla, co-founder of Lúpulo Tecnología de Galicia, ( LUTEGA) and Orballo, in the Mariñas Coruñesas e Terras do Mandeo Biosphere Reserve (Galicia); Víctor García, co-founder of Trabau Ecoturismo and La Guarida del Cunqueiru, in the Muniellos Biosphere Reserve (Asturias); and Marleen Schafer, founder of Ladrón de Miel, in the Sierra de Grazalema Biosphere Reserve (Andalusia), have described what their experience has been like in the start-up and continuity of their businesses. The conference has served to expand the network of contacts of more than 60 participants who have been able to share ideas and experiences to promote their green enterprises, carrying out participatory dynamics as tools for training skills to promote their green entrepreneurship projects. The meeting ended with a field visit to the La Gabarrera organic brewery.

There, its co-founder, Mónica Somacarrera, explained the origins and progress of this cooperative project, and another entrepreneur from the REV, Hernar Roldán, founder of D2Naturaleza , presented her entrepreneurial experience.