24,000 trees in Spain, in 10 regeneration projects, is the bequest of the VIII edition of Healthy Cities of Sanitas.
Jane Goodall was the ambassador for the event at presentation. "Protecting the environment is protecting the future," said the ethologist.
08 | 01 | 2024
Sanitas will plant more than 24,000 trees in Spain as bequest of the VIII edition of its Healthy Cities program. The event in which the company announced these projects was attended by the ethologist, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and United Nations Messenger of Peace, Dr. Jane Goodall. "Humanity is developing extraordinary technology, but all this development must be in harmony with nature and we must think about our environmental footprint at all times. Because protecting the environment is protecting the future," said Goodall.
During the event, in addition to detailing where the plantations will take place in 2023, Sanitas presented the first advances in the work of Chair Sanitas Salud y Medioambiente of the University of Navarra. The Chair is carrying out a report that gathers the scientific evidence on how the urban factors of the cities of our country influence the morbimortality of Spaniards, and the relevance of actions such as urban regeneration.
"People's health is directly linked to the health of the environment, especially in cities where 69% of the Spanish population is concentrated. It is therefore essential to make urban spaces healthyareas," explained Yolanda Erburu, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Sanitas and Bupa Europe & Latinamerica.
For the realization of this report, from the Chair Sanitas Health and Environment of the University of Navarra, factors such as air quality, temperature, heat islands, green and blue zones or urban mobility have been analyzed. This is a bibliographic analysis, in order to know the Degree influence that all of them have on our health. Some factors are widely documented, as is the case of air quality. Thus, for example, the scientific evidence sample that in Europe there were 25,000 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2022. Moreover, it is a factor that has a negative influence on numerous diseases, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The report of Chair concludes that other factors, on the other hand, are less well studied, to the point that it is difficult to quantify, for example, the impact that the lack of urban green spaces has on our health.
"Our goal is to create a map of status that allows us not only to detect problems and situations that harm or affect our health, but to discover how we can counteract them by presenting measures that transform our cities into healthier spaces. To do this, it will be essential to continue researching to find out how those less studied urban factors affect our health," explained Ainhoa Arriazu Ramos, research architect at group SAVI Arquitectura of the University of Navarra.
More than 24,000 trees in Spain, the bequest of the VIII Edition of Healthy Cities
The project Healthy Cities of Sanitas has celebrated its eighth edition this year. During the first phase of the program, a double challenge was launched to all citizens in Spain and employees of large participating companies: walk 6,000 steps a day, during May and June, and leave the private car at home at least one day a week. The more than 24,000 participants who took part are responsible for the fact that now, in the second phase of the program, Sanitas is planting 24,000 trees in Spain, one for each participant. Their goal: to make cities more sustainable and healthier places.
To achieve this, Sanitas will collaborate in different urban projects of environmental recovery and regeneration, in partnership with different city councils. In Madrid it will plant in the Bosque Metropolitano for the third year, in Zaragoza it will collaborate again for the second year with the Bosque de los Zaragozanos and in Malaga, for the first time it will undertake a project focused on greening the streets of Malaga devoid of trees and shade. Likewise, Valencia will collaborate with the European Green Capital in 2024 with a tree planting project in the streets of the city.
It will also contribute to the recovery of damaged ecosystems in peri-urban areas thanks to partnership with organizations such as WWF and Bosques Sostenibles.
partnership with Jane Goodall Institute in Spain and Senegal
In addition to the 24,000 trees planted in reforestation projects in Spain, Sanitas will maintain its partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute in the Kedougou region of Senegal, contributing to the planting of trees in the chimpanzees' habitat. This partnership reinforces its participation with the "Roots and Shoots" Program that the Jane Goodall Institute carries out in different schools in Spain focused on environmental Education .
→ report "Urban Areas in Spain 2022". Ministry of mobility, diary Urbana y Transportes. Atlas Digital de las Áreas Urbanas de España (mitma.gob.es).
