Aínsa invests more than 140,000 euros to expand the facilities of the municipal organic slaughterhouse.
The project ‘Sobrarbe Ecocircular’ includes other actions aimed at promoting the consumption of zero kilometer meat Aínsa expands the facilities of the municipal organic slaughterhouse and enhances the promotion of zero kilometer meat raised in extensive farming within the project ‘Sobrarbe Ecocircular’. The initiative, executed between May 2023 and February 2024, has had a budget of 141,269.72 euros financed within the framework of the EREA+ Program, under the Territorial Cohesion Fund of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, through the call for aid to innovative projects for territorial transformation and the fight against depopulation in Aragon 2023 of the Aragon Emprende Foundation (Government of Aragon). Specifically, the amount of the aid amounts to 100,000 euros, of which more than 41,000 euros have been provided by the Aínsa-Sobrarbe Town Council. The aim of the Sobrarbe Ecocircular project is to promote the consumption of lamb and veal meat km 0, produced in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way (born, raised and slaughtered in Sobrarbe), by facilitating the contribution of its by-products to the feeding trough for necrophagous birds located in Aínsa, managed by the Bearded Vulture Conservation Foundation and belonging to the RACAN (Aragonese Network of Feeding Troughs for Necrophagous Birds). According to the Mayor, Enrique Pueyo, Sobrarbe Ecocircular “is another link in the chain we have been working on for years. It closes the circle of development and sustainability, encompassing livestock, commerce, restoration, environmental conservation and ecotourism”. The actions have been executed and coordinated from the Aínsa-Sobrarbe Agroecological Entrepreneurship Center, financed within the framework of the EREA+ Program, charged to the Territorial Cohesion Fund of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the call for aid to Entrepreneurship Centers of the ARCE 2023 Network of the Aragón Emprende Foundation (Government of Aragón). The aid, amounting to 11,822.28 euros, has been earmarked for the acquisition of multi-purpose office furniture and ICT equipment. Commitment to the promotion of the primary sector The Sobrarbe Ecocircular project has integrated several lines of work during the last ten months. On the one hand, the improvement and expansion of the municipal ecological slaughterhouse and the technical assistance in its management. On the other hand, the maintenance of the feeding trough facilities for necrophagous birds and training and awareness activities, highlighting the technical conferences for producers and the general public organized in February in the framework of the Aínsa Fair. Visits were also made to the necrophagous bird feeder and to livestock farms between November and February. As actions to promote Km 0 products, activities have been organized in the Sobrarbe Expoferia held in September, in the Follarasca autumn fair and in the last edition of the Fair, while tastings of km 0 products have been offered in collaboration with restaurants in the municipality. All these actions have been disseminated through publications on social networks and web, posters and brochures. “Thanks to the Sobrarbe Ecocircular project we have achieved the objectives and the impact we expected,” emphasizes the mayor.
“With it we have helped to enhance and improve the economic viability of livestock farms in the municipality, we have continued firm in the purpose of conserving the biodiversity of our territory and we have managed to reduce our carbon footprint by supporting local entrepreneurs and promoting what is produced here”. Similarly, the actions carried out have been aimed at consolidating the municipality of Aínsa-Sobrarbe as an ecotourism destination in the region and have led to the creation of new jobs. “In short”, -concludes Enrique Pueyo- “Sobrarbe Ecocircular has been in line with the philosophy of the town we are building, a town committed to sustainability, capable of seeing in its natural and human resources opportunities for growth and strengthening its identity”.
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