An entity based in the small town of Oliete (Teruel) is giving an example to the whole of Spain of how to reverse the abandonment of the fields and how anyone can get involved, without leaving their home, in the recovery of traditional agriculture. Through an olive tree sponsorship program, the members of this organization They have already managed to rescue 10,000 trees from abandonment and certain death. And, in addition, they generate employment and create wealth with the production of quality oil.
By saving these olive trees, a chain is started that allows new oil producers to be attracted to these areas, which are once again generators of wealth in the so-called emptied Spain. In this way, a rural life, an industry and some fields that seemed called to disappear are reactivated.
The ‘Sponsor an olive tree’ project consists of Those interested in registering contribute 50 euros a year to recover an olive tree and thus cover its recovery. In this way, the tree returns to productive activity and generates business through the production of oil.
In turn, the people who have made this contribution and have a tree registered in their name receive, apart from the satisfaction of contributing to the regeneration of these crops, a two-liter bottle of olive oil each year.
The town of Oliete, in which barely 350 people live, has some 100,000 olive trees in its municipality, practically abandoned as a result of the massive emigration of its inhabitants to the big cities, an unfortunately common process for a few decades in Spain.
But, thanks to this program, people from 15 different countries have signed up as sponsors of 10,000 trees, which they can even visit personally to see how the recovery, maintenance and exploitation work is carried out, as can be seen in the Web page Of the entity.
Organizers They have also created a brand, Mi Olivo, which produces three varieties of olive oil. Thanks to this, 22 jobs have been generated in recent years, including members of the local association for the disabled.
Actually, the idea is to combine three functions in this project, which are the so-called 4 eses: Sustainable, Social, Solidarity and Healthy.
Workshops for schoolchildren
But, apart from that, educational workshops are also organized for students, in which the importance of trees and, specifically, of olive trees is learned. 300 students from Teruel go through these free workshops, which are carried out together with another NGO, Plant for the Planet.
This initiative was born in 2014 when the residents of Oliete promoted an initiative called ‘El Renacer’ with the aim of recovering a natural and agricultural heritage that had been abandoned for a long time.
“Where everyone saw old and unproductive olive trees, we envision the engine of well-being and economic development that Oliete needed to survive”, they affirm from the entity ‘Sponsor an olive tree’.
Today, people residing in the municipality, but also arriving from large cities and even from other countries, are part of this common project that demonstrates how it is possible to reverse the problem of rural abandonment and breathe new life into the countryside.
‘Sponsor an olive tree’ website: https://apadrinaunolivo.org/es
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.