Club

Ibiza and Ibiza Preservation Foundation to work together to protect the natural heritage of the island

Photos: Jon Izeta

A football match on a Sunday is always a good reason for a social gathering. Sharing a common passion is what brings us together at the stadium each weekend to support our team. In the stands, we talk about goals, saves, refereeing decisions, tactical setups, but also, we talk about life. All the things that surround us and worry us. Because football is much more than a sport. From its beginnings, this game related itself to culture and in doing so inspired poets, musicians, authors, film-makers… and, at the same time, became an instrument to call for a better world, placing importance and giving projection to a variety of causes worth fighting for. The biggest challenge of our time is environmental protection. As football clubs, we cannot afford ignore a game of life and death that, at the moment, we are losing, but still have time to turn around. On an island such as Ibiza the challenge of looking after our natural riches is clearly evident. While we enjoy the privilege of living in paradise, we cannot forget that this very paradise is dependent on a fragile equilibrium. If we don’t take care of our water (from salt water to sweet water), if we don’t pay attention to our vegetation (from pine trees that adorn the hills in a delightful green to the Posidonia meadows in the ocean giving a turquoise touch to the planet’s most beautiful beaches), if we don’t clean up and rid our walking trails, foot paths and coastlines of plastic, make a conscientious effort to maintain the natural habitats of marine and terrestrial species, recuperate agricultural farms or fight for the Mediterranean Sea to be free of oil spills, we will leave a legacy to future generations which will result in an island that is vastly different to the one we inherited from our parents and grandparents. Ibiza’s connection with environmental conscientiousness starts with Power Electronics –our main sponsor is a world leader in the development of renewable energies– and continues with all of our partners. As a club, we want our environmental commitment to go one step further. As a result, our club and Ibiza Preservation Foundation will sign a collaboration agreement this week to work in conjunction as partners for this important cause. The work and hands-on projects carried out by this non-profit organisation to create awareness about environmental protection as well as preservation of our surroundings are of fundamental importance and we, as a football club, are committed to doing our part in order to ensure that these essential projects will continue. We will act as a platform to share and draw attention to the objectives that Ibiza Preservation Foundation aims to achieve by 2021. We will support initiatives and campaigns and add the passion and commitment of our footballers, coaches and fans. In addition, we will work together with the foundation to reduce our use of non-recyclable plastic over the coming seasons. Together, we are joining forces to ensure that the name of Ibiza is recognised as one that achieves a perfect coexistence between nature and human beings.  I am Ibiza! The signing of the collaboration agreement between Ibiza and Ibiza Preservation Foundation will take place on Friday 13 September in the press conference room of Can Misses (10 AM)The media are invited to cover and attend the event where questions will be permitted.