Supporting biodiversity

It is thanks to biodiversity that nature is capable of supplying us with food, energy and all the resources we need for our daily lives.
There are over one million and seven hundred thousand species in the world and it is even believed that more that 12 million species could exist.
Aware of the risk that the incessant loss of species implies for the conservation of natural processes, Enel considers biodiversity to be a universal heritage and its conservation a priority commitment.

That is why Enel agreed with the Countdown 2010 initiative, promoted by the European Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC), which aims at preventing the decline of biodiversity by the year 2010 thanks to the actions of governments, NGO’s, private sectors.

Under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of Environment and in cooperation with Legambiente, the Italian Society for the Protection of Birds (LIPU), Marevivo (the Italian Environmental Association on Sea Reservation), Enel celebrates World Biodiversity Day by promoting projects in support of biodiversity, a heritage that belongs to everyone and everyone should respect.

Enel celebrates the European Day of Parks,  instituted on May 24th 1909, when the first European park was established in Sweden; an event to promote the protection of the environment in Italy and abroad.

The following are some of the activities carried out by Enel for the preservation of animal and plant biodiversity:

• Terrestrial biological monitoring
  Enel performs various biomonitoring activities in areas adjacent to several of its plants, by adopting techniques recognized by the international scientific community.
• Water monitoring
  Monitoring activities are carried out in water reservoirs affected by thermo-electric generation to verify - by observing the benthos, plankton, phytoplankton, algae vegetation and the Posidonia oceanica - that the physical-chemical and biological parameters do not produce a change in the ecosystem and in biodiversity over time, following the return of cooling water.
• Fish cultivation
  In most water reservoirs where hydropower activity takes place, fish are usually cultivated in order to ensure a high standard ecosystem.
  In some cases, in agreement with local authorities, for its activities of marine enrichment Enel uses fish species that are locally exposed to greater risks. In particular, among fish that are cultivated, some are endangered fish species contained in the "Red List" prepared by the IUCN.
• Wetlands and the minimum environmental flow
  Enel, thanks to the constant maintenance of the vast hydroelectric reservoirs network and through water releases in river beds of underlying dams, allows both the creation of a network of smaller wetlands and the maintenance of ecosystems that are vital for the reproduction, survival and resettlement of many marine species.