Cristina Hodgson
A HIGHLY ambitious plan has been announced by Malaga City Council to combat climate change.
Malaga City Council, through the Urban Environment Observatory (OMAU), is beginning to lay the foundations for a project which, if it becomes a reality, will greatly increase the environmental value of the capital.
The initiative, modelled on the Climate 2050 Plan, involves the construction of a large green belt in the eastern part of the municipality, which would involve the planting of more than 3 million shrubs and trees to reforest more than 2,000 hectares of land.
The project would allow almost 390,000 tonnes of carbon to be captured and sequestered over a period of 30 years.
According to the OMAU document, the estimated cost of the green belt, and its management in the period 2021-2050, is more than 16 million euros.
The project includes the creation of new woodlands and areas of Mediterranean undergrowth within and around Malaga city, as well as an increase in the amount of space available for public use.
The reforestation, which will also provide flood and disease control, will be done with holm oaks, cork oaks, carob trees, wild olive trees, black poplars, willows, kermes oaks, aladern, mastic trees, oleanders, taraje, palimito and myrtle.
Ecological connectivity within the belt and surrounding areas with the creation of natural spaces in the interior of the province, towards the Montes de Malaga Natural Park and the city itself is also included in the progress document posted on the Urban Environment Observatory (OMAU) website.
