The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, Ana Leiva, has signed today in Guadalajara a collaboration agreement with the general director of the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá, Arsenio Lope, for a total amount of 503,000 euros. This investment will serve to develop a project that will promote employment and good environmental practices in Castilla-La Mancha.

The event was also attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha, José Luis Martínez; the mayor of Molina de Aragón and president of LEADER, David Pascual, representing the Molina de Aragón-Alto Tajo Rural Development Association; and the president of the Association for the Promotion and Development of the Serranía de Cuenca, Jesus Fernández; as representatives of the institutions and entities collaborating in this project.

The Biodiversity Foundation is the managing body of the European Social Fund (F.S.E.) and in 2008 it allocated 14,870,837.51 euros to finance 32 projects aimed at improving employment and the environment, through the Empleaverde Programme. One of these initiatives is the one that will be developed in Castilla-La Mancha.

The objective of the project proposed by the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá is to improve the training of workers linked to rural areas of Guadalajara and Cuenca to promote a new economic activity, truffle farming, as well as to promote the development of gastronomic tourism around it. In addition, personalised advice will be provided to agricultural workers on the suitability of agricultural land for truffle cultivation and plant certification, and the creation of an association of truffle growers will be promoted in the regions where this initiative is being developed.

With this initiative, it is expected to train more than 540 people and that some 5,600 will participate in the actions. It is also expected to contribute to the creation of 15 companies.