XABIA VIVA HELPS REFORESTATION PROJECT ON MONTGÓ
Sunday 6th November 2011

Members of XABIA VIVA spent a windy morning on the slopes of the Montgó helping to improve the path to the summit. About 30 volunteers helped officers from the Parque Natural del Montgó with the objective to regenerate the slopes which are being eroded by the creation of unofficial paths through the undergrowth. Small walls were built to deter walkers from leaving the official path and using these tracks which were then planted with small seedlings.

The work was carried as part of the Department of Environment's "Planta un Árbol y Ciuda Mil" campaign to encourage the reforestation of natural parks across the region, an objective that is being encouraged in association with Obra Social "la Caixa".

The volunteers gathered at Denia shooting range before walking to the base of the summit path where officiers from the Parque Natural del Montgó briefed them about the intended work. Small teams were to work on several tracks that had been pushed through the undergrowth by hikers taking short cuts from the main path, the only sanctioned route to the top of the mountain. Modest walls of rock were built to try and deter walkers from taking these routes which were badly eroding the slopes. Then, under the directions of the officers, the teams planted small seedlings of Lentisco, an evergreen shrub that can create a small domed plant providing dense cover for wildlife, of Margalló, a palm species common in Valencia which is robust and ideal for preventing erosion, and of Mata, a small shrub which thrives in the dry and rocky regions of Mediterranean Europe.

Xabia Viva president José Buigues said that the work of the group will help to "homogenize the slopes of the mountain" and thanks the officials from the Parque Natural de Montgó for providing the brunch at the end of the work.

Xabia Viva is an association with works to protect and promote the heritage of Jávea as well as taking part in environmental projects which have included the reforestation of sections of the Granadella area around the castle and cleaning both the coastline and seabed around the Cala Sardinera.

Source: Press Release - Xàbia Viva