The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, begins today in Madrid the signing of the 61 collaboration agreements for the development of projects that will promote employment and good environmental practices, within the framework of the empleaverde Programme.

Thus, 61 projects are launched, with a total investment of 6.2 million euros, as part of empleaverde, an initiative of the FB for the improvement of employment and the environment, which is co-financed through the European Social Fund (ESF).

The selected initiatives aim to generate and improve employment by increasing the skills and qualifications of workers and supporting the creation and modernisation of enterprises. In all cases, the sustainability of economic activities is promoted. The grants for the 61 projects that were launched during 2011 have been awarded to entities from the business, professional and trade union sectors, foundations, NGOs and associations and the academic sector.

The beneficiary entities operate in 15 autonomous communities; among them, Madrid, Andalusia, Extremadura, Catalonia, Murcia, Galicia, the Valencian Community, Castilla León, Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias, Ceuta, Canary Islands, La Rioja, Navarra and the Basque Country.

The projects are aimed at economic sectors such as agriculture (production, processing and marketing), forestry, fisheries, energy, the environmental sector, sustainable rural development and in protected areas and biosphere reserves, sustainable tourism and the rehabilitation and building sector.