Malaga hiking club receives national award for conservation work in the Sierra de las Nieves

The La Cabrilla club restored paths and planted 300 Spanish firs in the national park, in the heart of the province

ANDREA JIMÉNEZ

Friday, 7 January 2022, 18:03

The La Cabrilla hiking club, formed in 2010 by a group of friends in El Burgo, has been honored with a national award for the conservation work it has undertaken in the Sierra de las Nieves, in the heart of Malaga province.

The hiking club has been instrumental in restoring paths covering 10km that had fallen out of use in the 1970s.

"We want to participate in the improvement of our environment and to be an example for younger generations so that they become aware," said Javier Ríos, president of the club.

The club is one four Andalusian entities to have won the conservation of cultural and natural heritage award and the first from Malaga province.

"We are very grateful for this award, it encourages us to continue working for nature," said Ríos.

"We wanted younger generations to be able to get to know these paths and have a better understanding of the natural areas nearby. Everything has been done little by little, in our spare time, on weekends. We had some financing from the El Burgo town council and thanks to this we have even been able to build several bridges,” he added.

One the group’s most impressive achievements is the planting of more than 300 new Spanish fir trees.

‘El Burgo against cancer’ hike

The club is also hoping to hold its annual ‘El Burgo against cancer’ hike through the mountains which has been held 2016 to 2019 but was suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Everything we raise with this activity goes to charities. We would love to be able to celebrate it again in 2022,” said Ríos.