The Regional Government of Castile and León, through the Local Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Planning, and Red Eléctrica will provide training to 800 students from 12 high schools on the restoration of landscapes damaged by wildfires and on the importance of conserving the environment and natural resources.

In a joint effort to promote environmental awareness and the importance of restoring landscapes affected by forest fires, both entities have launched 49 educational workshops entitled “What happens after a forest fire?”. The main objective of these workshops is to show that the restoration of burnt landscapes is not only possible, but essential to nature conservation.

The programme began on 14 March and has already taken place in Mansilla de las Mulas (León), Fontiveros (Ávila), Salamanca and Toro (Zamora). Until the end of the 2023-2024 school year, workshops will be held in the provinces of Segovia, Valladolid, Palencia, Burgos and Soria. Students will get hands-on experience to help them understand the consequences of wildfires and learn about the measures used to restore and recover the affected ecosystems.

The collaboration is intended to raise awareness among future generations of the need to protect and restore ecosystems, especially in Castile and León, a region particularly concerned with fighting forest fires.

The project is part of a collaboration agreement signed in 2017 and renewed in 2021 by the Castile and León Administration and Red Eléctrica. This agreement covers the prevention and adaptation of flora under power lines as well as environmental awareness and education. In addition, the educational resources of the Centre for Fire Defence (CDF) of Castile and León will be enhanced with funding from Red Eléctrica.

The Centre for Fire Defence plays an important role in the dissemination of technical knowledge and field expertise, contributing to a greater application of this know-how to make the fight against wildfires more efficient. In this respect, collaboration with entities such as Red Eléctrica helps to achieve these objectives.

This is not the first time that these entities have held educational workshops on fire prevention: During the 2022-2023 school year, over 900 students from schools across the Autonomous Community participated in 44 workshops, and in the various environmental awareness and dynamization programmes.