The Fondo Futuro Sostenible del BBVA helps to promote projects associated to social inclusion, dependency, the elderly and health and the environment, areas included in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In its 4th BBVA Solidarity Call for Proposals, the Pau Costa Foundation has been recognised with one of the national awards and will receive €100.000 to continue developing and extending the “Ramats de Foc” project throughout Catalonia.
“BBVA AM’s support will give a great boost to the project, as it will allow us to implement “Ramats de Foc” beyond the province of Girona. In this way, we will advance the goal of promoting extensive livestock farming as a sustainable way of managing fire risk, which also allows us to maintain the biodiversity, cultural and social values of our natural environment, while generating opportunities for the rural economy,” says Jordi Vendrell, director of the Pau Costa Foundation.
“Ramats de Foc” is a comprehensive project involving multiple actors. Thus, the following work together: firefighters from the “Generalitat de Catalunya” who identify strategic areas for the prevention and extinction of fires; livestock farmers who, by grazing their herds, eliminate the fuel load that accumulates in the forest land; restaurateurs and butchers, who market the products identified with the “Ramats de Foc” seal; and end consumers, who contribute to the value of products that have been used for the sustainable management of the forest environment.
The project has so far been implemented in the province of Girona (Baix Empordà, Alt Empordà, Garrotxa, Gironès and Pla de l’Estany) and will probably be extended to the province of Tarragona. It currently has 21 livestock farmers and 49 points of sale (butchers and restaurateurs) that distribute products bearing the “Ramats de Foc” seal.
About the “Fondo Futuro Sostenible del BBVA”
BBVA Futuro Sostenible ISR is a socially responsible investment fund that donates a portion of the management fee each year to charity projects. In the solidarity calls of the previous three years, BBVA AM has distributed a total of more than €2.2 million to 51 solidarity projects. In the case of Catalonia, some 390,000 euros have been donated since 2020, enabling close to 4,000 people to benefit directly or indirectly from the selected projects.
BBVA AM received a total of 263 applications for the fourth edition of these awards, of which 186 complied with the terms and conditions of the call for entries. Of these, 37% were projects in the field of social inclusion, 32% in dependency, health and the elderly, and 31% in the environment.
