- The largest urban tree planting project in Chile, which aims to plant one tree per city resident, has now achieved 60% of its goal.
This past Wednesday, August 24, 2022, the “Quillota Respira Frente al Cambio Climatico" project (in English, Quillota Breathes in the Face of Climate Change) celebrated the planting of its 60,000th tree in the Los Paltos neighborhood square. The town's mayor, council members, neighborhood association leaders, representatives from Enel and Duoc-UC, and project members attended the activity to mark the beginning of the project's final phase.
This project is a joint effort by the Municipality of Quillota, Enel, and Duoc-UC, in a virtuous alliance among the public sector, private sector, and academia, aimed at addressing the different impacts caused by climate change through the planting of city trees and supporting community training and awareness initiatives surrounding carrying for the environment and a sustainable lifestyle and development model.
Quillota mayor, Óscar Calderón Sánchez, noted that the collaboration allowed them to take significant strides towards a goal that seemed remote and complex just four years ago. He mainly thanks Enel, Duoc-UC, Conaf, social organizations, and educational establishments in the community, as well as the city officials that have contributed to the "Quillota Respira" project.
According to the mayor, “the 60,000th tree is not only an important milestone in number. It is also a powerful gesture and sign that, at the Latin American level, Quillota is respecting a real and concrete commitment to address the harmful effects of climate change today. It is also a sign that we are trying to reverse it. This is Quillota's larger contribution to its surroundings, not only in our community but in the other communities around our region. As such, we hope it can be replicated in other places. There is strength in numbers."
"For Enel, it is essential to be a part of this project, where the collaboration between the community, academia, public sector, and private sector is developed to contribute to the fight against climate change. Today we celebrate planting the 60,000th tree, meaning 60% of completion. The initiative not only aims to plant one tree per resident but also to raise awareness, especially among young people, about caring for our environment and the conservation of natural resources," says Antonella Pellegrini, Sustainability Manager for Enel Chile.
Initially, this promise seemed nearly impossible, but today, with the collaboration of many players, the goal is increasingly in sight. This will not only help improve the city's landscape but is also an effective action against climate change through 50 hectares of vegetation planted since the project's beginning.
Marcela Arellano Ogaz, director of Outreach and Institutional Integration at Duoc-UC, commented that "participating in a collaborative project in this community of ours is highly significant. This is one way to contribute Duoc's knowledge, discipline, and technique for the good of the community. By working with Enel and learning about what goes on in neighborhoods and city parks, we see a tree's impact, which is the result of a long learning process within the community."
Quillota Respira, through the coordination of this collaboration between the public/private sector and academia, represents a virtuous example for many other cities and companies in bringing people together to make a real contribution to the fight against climate change.