Financiera y Minera use micro-organisms in rehab plan

Italcementi unit rehabilitating Alhaurin de la Torre, near its Compania General de Canteras quarry in Spain. [$]

{reg}[PAID={"id":"15,16,17","title":"The content you tried to access is only available to paid subscribers.","link":"1"}] Multinational company, Financiera y Minera, is using a new method to hasten the rehabilitation of Alhaurín de la Torre, an area exploited by their quarry.

According to a report by Malaga Hoy, the company, responsible for operating Compania General de Canteras, is employing a process that uses microorganisms to stimulate the rooting of plants and protect them from disease.

The report stated that this process, developed by Bioiliberis Research and Development has proven that it can enhance the growth of pine by 145%. And while it is more costly than traditional rehabilitation methods, it has been used by Financiera y Minera to better comply with the Special Plan of Restoration and Reforestation set for the former extraction site.

The company pledge to the rehabilitation Alhaurin de la Torre in 2005 when the High Court of Justice of Andalusia issued a ruling that year requiring the end of activities for four quarries due to the lack of license.

According to the report, the reforestation of the area began at the peak of the mountain and results are relatively visible. So far, the company has planted 1026 trees--mostly pines with a number of pinyon, wild olive and carob trees. It has also planted 1944 units of bushes like rosemary, thyme, mastic or lavender in almost three hectares treated. {reg/}