Native Trees to be Planted in Formentera

The shipping company Baleària, together with the Nature & People Foundation, are promoting an initiative to recover Formentera's lost biodiversity. They plan to greatly increase vegetation on the island by planting 475,000 native trees and shrubs. The goal is to reintroduce traditional native plants, many of which have been lost. This will also make the island cooler in the hot summer months. The current tree cover is less than 10% in urban areas, and more than half of the island’s primary vegetation has been lost. As a result, the natural cooling effect provided by vegetation is much less than it is on Mallorca, Menorca, or Ibiza. This project will expand vegetation in forests, abandoned land, and urban or semi-urban areas. They will plant trees that are native to the island: fig trees, almond trees, carob trees, olive trees, and others. This will help to cool the island by increasing its green cover by 22%. The project has an innovative public-private financing model based on biodiversity credits. The president of the Balearic Government Marga Prohens expressed her gratitude to the Nature & People Foundation for choosing Formentera as a pioneering location for this project. “Formentera is much more than a destination; it is a unique model of conservation.”