Boosting our environmental commitment by supporting biodiversity

Conservation and the responsible use of natural heritage and biodiversity are not only an ethical commitment for ACCIONA-they are a necessary condition for global sustainability.

"Halting biodiversity loss is, next to tackling climate change, the main environmental challenge Humanity faces." (OECD, 2008)

ACCIONA is aware that biodiversity in itself is a natural asset of incalculable value, which is why today its preservation is unquestionable and represents one opportunity after another to contribute towards reactivating the economy and social progress. To ensure that its goals are met, ACCIONA has set up a Natural Environment and Biodiversity Specific Organization Unit. The unit, an industry first, sets out to design and carry out highly positive actions in the environmental field, in an effort to make the Company stand out from its competitors.

Results on the ground

Pioneering conservation actions and biodiversity improvement in Palma (Canary Isles)

The isle of Palma was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2002.

Flora counts among its ecological riches and the Canary Islands are one of the most unique regions on the planet from a botanical viewpoint. The temporary joint venture (UTE) to build the Los Sauces highway, whose main shareholder is ACCIONA Infrastructure, has been carrying out an unprecedented environmental project on the island with respect to a threatened plant species, Ferula latipinna, and has managed to reproduce it in a nursery for the first time.

Indeed, the ex situ reproductive technique guarantees the plant's very survival.

The project is being carried out as part of the C-830 roadway project in the north of the island and the first plants grown in the nursery have already been planted alongside the road. During the works, a series of actions of significant environmental importance has also been undertaken, including the following:

• Restoration of a volcanic cone, previously used as a waste tip, to accommodate the nursery for the Ferula latipinna and other indigenous plants. This has led to the nesting of a pair of kestrels (a listed species of interest in Canary Island ecosystems) to build their nest in the cavity of the inside wall of the cone;
• Creation of farmland, highly valued on the island, by restoring old agricultural plots using surplus earth from the works, a successful action accepted by local people, and the;
• Transfer of 35 unique palm and dragon trees to the nursery for their care and later planting elsewhere.

Results on the ground

Improving reproductive success of protectedanimal species.

Montagu's harrier is a protected species throughout Spain. It breeds mainly in cereal crops, where one of the principal problems today is mechanized cereal harvests that destroy nests year after year.

ACCIONA Energy is carrying out a specific program to safeguard the nesting of this species in Castile-La Mancha (central Spain) in coordination with the regional government, farmers, technical specialists and environmental partners.

The project consists of four basic lines of action:

• Detection and census-taking at nesting points;
• Drawing up plans to locate nests;
• Information to local farmers, and;
• Control of harvests to avoid nest destruction.

Since the introduction of the program, there has been a substantial increase in reproductive success for this protected species by safeguarding nests from the disturbances produced by the cereal harvests. Since 2009, a rise in the harrier's population of over 30% has been observed, with certain death prevented for scores of these birds of prey, which play a significant role in the control of rodent plagues in cereal crops.