The effects of climate change are causing more and more people to become aware of the importance of maintaining biodiversity. Whether small works, such as creating a simple pond in the home garden, or large projects, such as revitalizing abandoned land and turning it into a botanical garden, any action can be done. help preserve local flora and fauna.
However, when most of the hours of the day must be spent going to work and taking care of the family, carrying out this type of project can become quite complex. That is why Marià Caimo, a retired resident of Molins de Rei, along with a group of pensioners, decided to take advantage of their new life away from work to carry out an idea that had been floating around in their minds for years..
After dedicating his life to social education in an occupational center in Sabadell and requesting early retirement at the age of 63, facing the reduction coefficients in his pension due to this, Caimo decided to dedicate his new freedom to revitalize a 200 square meter plot located in the Can Vilagut farmhouse and which had a large amount of weeds. Your goal: turn it into a botanical garden to preserve the biodiversity of the area.
In six years, the land was converted into a botanical garden
The project began in November 2019, when he decided to contact the owners of the Can Vilagut farmhouse where the land was located. The tasks to rehabilitate the plot did not begin until December, with the help of two colleagues. The first year, the pensioners dedicated themselves to clearing the area of weeds and designing what the botanical garden would be like. When they were clear, they began to plant the first species.
As explained to the media “La Vanguardia”, the first two years were the most complicated, since they had to carry out all the hard tasks to prepare the land for the plantation of species. However, it was completely worth it, because six years later they managed to create a garden in which you can observe both a variety of plants, insects and animals who have decided to make it their refuge.
The species they chose to plant in the botanical garden are characterized by being native to Mediterranean forests, all to guarantee their survival and adaptation to the terrain. This selection was the result of years of interest and research by Marià Caimo. Well, the idea of creating this little oasis came to his mind long before he decided to end his work activity, but he could not carry it out until his retirement.
They seek to promote the importance of biodiversity
However, the creation of this natural space has not only been the work of Caimo, but also of ten other partners, also retired, who have decided to use their time to create a space to preserve biodiversity and to raise awareness among neighbors and children about its importance. Well, six years after the beginning of this project, the garden has begun to receive visits from schools of the area.
The pensioners, in addition to dedicating themselves to gardening, have become guides, capable of explaining to the children the different species of trees, plants, insects and animals that can be found inside. As he explained to the media, “what we try to do is encourage respect and knowledge in children, not only of plants, but also of the environment and the importance of its conservation“.
Botanical gardens are especially important spaces for the preservation of native plants as well as native insects and animals, as they become natural refuges within urban environments. However, they not only generate positive impacts on biodiversity, but also on humans themselves, as they are spaces that generate peace and tranquility for those who visit them. For all this, Coima and its partners seek to promote its importance.