Plans for public allotments, Marbella
Credit: INTREEGUE Photography – Shutterstock
Marbella Council is currently in talks with environmental groups on creating urban allotments for locals to grow their own produce.
Council workers have been preparing green spaces, preparing easy access, and organising watering points using recycled water. The Arboretum Foundation, which has 9 years of experience in urban allotment management in the Trapiche Norte area, is participating in the project. As well as a useful community asset, the Council is looking at promoting the new allotments as a form of leisure activity in which local people can grow organic produce for their own healthy consumption, while promoting sustainable development, environmental responsibility, and community spirit.
Allotments, ‘an effective tool for change’
The president of the Arboretum Foundation, Alejandro Orioli, has said that ‘it is essential that cities have these activities, which are effective tools for change, environmental literacy, and the enjoyment of citizens’. The project is still in its planning stage, and details have yet to be released on the proposed sites for the new public allotments.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) states that urban allotments can be much more ecological and efficient than traditional ones, producing up to 20 kg of food per m2 per year. Urban agriculture is changing the landscape of cities around Spain with thousands of small allotments for self-consumption that are proliferating at ground level. It is part of a growing sustainable movement, which facilitates and promotes savings on food purchases.
