Country: Spain

Site: Mijas Municipality

Target: Students and schools, Teachers and educators, Local communities and residents, Families and kids

Short Description

The Mijas Reforesta program coordinates reforestation activities in the mountains, coastal dunes (in el Chaparral Blue Flag beach for instance), and urban green spaces of the municipality, aiming to strengthen local biodiversity and create urban forests as CO₂ sinks. With the collaboration of local schools, including Eco-Schools such as Salliver School in Fuengirola, volunteers have planted nearly a thousand Mediterranean species seedlings produced at the Municipal Nursery. Some environmental walks and educational trails also took place on the Blue Trail, which links several beaches, four of which are Blue Flag beaches. Planting native species, conducting seed workshops, and caring for tree growth allows participants to experience natural cycles and understand the importance of biodiversity.

Goals

Promote environmental education and active participation, following the Eco-Schools philosophy.
Conserve and restore local ecosystems through reforestation actions.
Encourage attitude and behavior changes toward sustainable practices among participants

Reproducibility/lessons learnt

The combination of hands-on action, holistic learning, and interpretive excursions shows that environmental education can generate lasting attitude changes, encourage sustainable habits, and strengthen connections with nature and the community.