Reforestations

The 1^st Year Secondary School students from the ECOS School were full of energy. On a beautiful spring day, they dug the holes and planted the more than 90 European Beach grass (Ammophila arenaria), Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and Mediterranean Thyme (Thymbra capitata) seedlings.

They were very careful to ensure that all were well watered in. Now it’s up to the ProDunas Marbella volunteers to water these small plants weekly, to ensure that they survive and grow.

On Wednesday, schoolchildren from the Profesor Pablo del Saz Secondary School came to help us reforest the Real de Zaragoza dune. This visit and their help was really appreciated. There were 20 pine trees (Pinus pinea) to be planted. The teachers kept score and depending on how many and how well the children planted the pines, one of the Houses was declared the winner!
In spite of the strong west wind that was blowing and which made the planting challenging, the children did a great job and we send our congratulations to them all.

We are really appreciative of the work done by Jesús, the Environment Technician from the Town Hall. Jesús was a great help in explaining the importance of the work to the children and in getting the work done.

Thank you all. See you again soon!

SEED = 1 SHRUB

That is what we keep repeating in the schools in Marbella.

The Colegio Alemán (the German School) has put ProDunas’ motto into practice and the seeds sown in 50 flower pots back in the day have germinated. Not only that, the little seedlings have grown so much that we have organised a space in the dune environment for them where they can be planted out and get on with developing in their own way.
The school children can be proud of the care and subsequent reforestation they have undertaken. Now it is up to ProDunas and its volunteers (more are always welcome) to look after these young plants. This is done by keeping an eye on them in general and watering them by hand once a week for the next 2 years so that they can develop a strong, healthy root system.
To ensure the adaptation of the seedlings to their new habitat, we have chosen the best possible date, when the autumn rains can be expected.
Thank you to all who took part: To the 10 students together with their teachers from the Colegio Alemán, to the observers from the Delegation for the Environment and of course, to our members and co-workers who selflessly gave their time and hard work to make this reforestation a success.

THE LAST DUNE HAS BEEN SPONSORED
We are very pleased! The GUADALPIN Secondary School in Marbella will be the thirteenth educational centre to sponsor
 a dune zone in the Dunas de Marbella Ecological Reserve.

The EL ALICATE dune – although quite small- is going to have a nice variety of autochthonous shrubs. The dune has just been reforested by Guadalpín Secondary School students and ProDunas will now take over and care for the newly planted shrubs
for the next 2 years to give them the necessary nutrition so they can develop roots.

CONGRATULATIONS on this dune sponsorship – the students can already feel proud to Marbella be able to base part of their learning process on the conservation of “their dune”. We really appreciate the involvement of the teaching staff.

The students of the IES Professor Pablo del Saz have had to learn to be – in only one morning:
Gardeners and plumbers.

But their magnificent collaboration has motivated us to make the long journey to Seville,to take over the seedlings that the Junta de Andalucía has offered to our Association.

Although the task required attention and a good job of reforestation and some made a mess with the special hoses that we have for manual irrigation, the result is optimal and the small bushes like the dune environment and our weekly care.

Thanks again to all for your appreciated collaboration, creating a new dune ecosystem.

A wonderful new experience  for the schoolchildren from the Dunas de las Chapas Secondary School.

Thanks to the donation of 140 pine trees we were able to take advantage of a beautiful day in January to schedule reforestation.

The schoolchildren enjoyed being the godparents of these Pine saplings and they will be able to watch them grow as time goes on, since the growth of a Pine is very slow and needs 30 years to get high.

.A big thank you to them for getting involved. It is greatly appreciated!.

The school children from the Alboran Secondary School had a wonderful experience! For the first time and thanks to the donation of 140 Stone Pine saplings (Pinus pinea) they could reforest “their dune”. It was quite an effort since not only had they to plant  the saplings, but they had to get water quite a distance away from the dune, fill water containers and with a wheelbarrow bring the water back to each of the newly planted pines. Now ProDunas will have to take care of the 15 saplings for the coming 2 years. We will water them once a week, every week.
We thank the school children for their good work!

A NEW KNOW HOW for the students from the “Colegio Alemán”. On a sunny autumn day they helped us plant native species that Hidralia had donated to us to enhance an area close to the dunes that tourists and residents pass by on a regular basis.

Now comes the time to take care of the plants, watering them weekly, by hand, for 2 years. As the shrubs are quite big we are hopeful that a high percentage of them will survive.

Thank you to these students for their excellent work.

A NEW EXPERIENCE – the students from the Sierra Blanca de Marbella Secondary School showed their talent in dune reforestation. They worked hard in the interesting Real de Zaragoza dune area.

We would like to thank the students who took part, their teachers Amparo and Leticia, and the Monitor from Marbella Town Hall’s Environment Department.

A NEW EXPERIENCE – the students from the Sierra Blanca de Marbella Secondary School showed their talent in dune reforestation. They worked hard in the interesting Real de Zaragoza dune area.

We would like to thank the students who took part, their teachers Amparo and Leticia, and the Monitor from Marbella Town Hall’s Environment Department.

2004 – 2014

Dune Areas between East Marbella and the Natural Monument “Artola” in Cabopino

Using native shrubs, several reforestation programs were carried out in the following DUNES areas:

• “Palm Beach” Dune – Río Real – Reserva de los Monteros
• “The Adelfa” Dune – Bahia de Marbella, Marbella
• “La Víbora” Dune” – Elviria-Las Chapas
• “Las Golondrinas” Dune – Elviria-Las Chapas

Once identified, each dune area must be evaluated taking into account its flora and wildlife and establishing the degradation level that has so far occurred. Following this, our Association presents both to Marbella Town Hall and the competent authorities, a documentation kit with all the gathered data and which includes maps, photos, the boundaries and orographic details so that the dune in question can be correctly located.

Having once got through this filter and together with the different administrations, the recovery and rehabilitation of the dune environment can be carried out. This usually involves 2 stages:

• Eradication of invasive alien species either by mechanical or manual means.
• Reforestation with native shrubs.

Our experience shows that manual eradication programs lead to rapid development of regional native flora in the dune environment. After a few months new dune plants emerge such as (see Panel flora):

• Sea trefoil (Lotus creticus)
• Mallow (Lavatera creticus)
• Common Asphodel (Asphodelus aestivus)
• Bitter Chamomile (Helychrisum stoechas) etc.etc.

To fix the dune crests Beach grass (Ammophila arenosa) is preferred. This can be achieved either by sowing seed or letting nature and the winds do their job.

In areas which have been degraded by development, passage of motorized vehicles, etc. or where eradication of invasive alien species by mechanical means has taken place, it is advisable to introduceflora in the form of native shrubs. In the early years (2004 – 2012) Pro Dunas partners concentrated on reforestation in “The Adelfa” dune in the Bahía de Marbella (see photos).

From 2012 onwards, the reforestation efforts took the form of environmental education. The initiative launched by our Association: Sponsorship of the dunes by schools is an important platform in dune maintenance and one of the main supports of this initiative can be: Reforestation carried out by school pupils.

2012 – 2014 – 2015

The students who have sponsored each individual dune, working together with Pro Dunas have maintained or will maintain and reforest the following dunes with native shrubs. Sometimes a school from outside the Municipality of Marbella, such as IES Sierra de Mijas, in Mijas Costa, works with us to introduce students to practical training in a dune environment.

• “El Arenal” dune – El Arenal-Costabella
• “La Víbora” dune – Elviria-Las Chapas
• “Las Golondrinas” dune – Elviria-Las Chapas.