• This initiative forms part of the Corporate Environmental Volunteering Programme launched by the power company and is aimed at encouraging a positive attitude to environmental conservation among its employees.

Approximately 35 volunteers, including both employees of GAS NATURAL FENOSA and their families, took part this weekend in various activities to improve the conservation status of the L'Albufera Natural Park in Valencia as part of the power company's Corporate Environmental Volunteering Programme. Organised by the Global Nature Foundation, the day was aimed at helping to protect one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

The work consisted of removing marine waste from the Alcatí beach according to protocols established by the MARNOBA Platform, an initiative launched by the Zero Dumping Association [Asociación Vertidos Cero] and Kai Marine Services, whose mission is to gather, store and disclose information about Spanish marine waste.

The volunteers sorted the waste they found, which was subsequently managed properly thanks to assistance provided by the City Council of Valencia. The data obtained during the day of volunteering was added to the MARNOBA platform application in order to provide useful information.

Furthermore, one exotic species was eliminated from the area - the hottentot-fig (Carpobrotus edulis), which besides displacing autochthonous flora also contributes to soil acidification. Five tonnes of hottentot-fig were removed in total. In order to avoid dune erosion, this activity was followed by the planting of local species, such as European marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), common bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), coastal medick (Medicago marina) and seashore bindweed (Calystegia soldanella), donated by the Devesa Albufera Technical Service of the City Council of Valencia.

The day also included a visit to the Tancat de L'Illa green filter Nature Reserve, an artificial wetland that is highly important for good water conditions in the Estany de la Plana (L'Albufera). Besides their role in water treatment, artificial wetlands provide a habitat conducive to the conservation of biodiversity, especially such birds as the Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris) and the purple heron (Ardea purpurea).

Commitment to the environment and our natural surroundings

GAS NATURAL FENOSA maintains a firm commitment to society and, for many years, has adopted a corporate culture of respect for and awareness of the environment and environmental improvement, which it continually conveys to its employees, customers, suppliers and society in general.

Along these lines, the company incorporates its commitment to preserving biodiversity in all its businesses and activities, and has defined an environmental sustainability strategy based on these three targets: the minimisation of impacts on eco-systems; the conservation of natural assets; and the mitigation of global warming.

The Global Nature Foundation

For over 20 years, the Global Nature Foundation has been working on the conservation of spaces and species, as well as the restoration of degraded eco-systems, with a particular focus on wetland areas. Over the last two decades, the foundation has worked with public and private entities to develop activities aimed at conserving biodiversity, both in Spain and within the framework of development aid projects.

As a charitable education foundation, all its projects include environmental awareness elements, in the form of courses, workshops and corporate volunteer programmes on the site.

Barcelona, 11 November 2015.

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