As it was not the most voted for project at the time, it was not taken up. However, the idea of a edible forest took root, and now a botanical group there has presented it in a different way. On March 10th several voluntary groups and individuals started creating the forest.

Benefits for Local Animals too

"When the idea was rejected and no money was provided for the project, we thought: Why don't we go ahead with it? There had to be another way to do it", Mikel Etxarte Azkarate – the valley environmental counsellor and the project's promoter – explained to us. The town's botanical group got the project to create the wood going, buying all the plants, trees and materials they needed by themselves.

Etxarte says that they will build a bit more forest every year, and this is just the first year of the project. "The botanical group has decided where the bushes will go: there will be areas for brambles, redcurrants, sloes and trees, amongst others walnut trees, cherry trees and plum trees." They intend to build a walk around the edible forest, and voluntary groups and individuals will take part in the work. "It is important to have spaces like this around cities, not just for people but also for many bird and mammals for whom the fruit provides nourishment during the winter", the counsellor said.

Value of Environmental Volunteering

There are around 20 people in the voluntary group, most of them from the valley itself, as well as some other people from the Iruñea area. Until now the group has been involved with a further two initiative: last year they worked on making micro humid areas more natural for amphibious animals, and on the Aterpeak (shelters) project, making nests for birds of prey.

This article was translated by 11itzulpen; you can see the original in Basque here.