Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Guadalajara (Castilla La Mancha)

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2024

Duration:

01/01/2024 - 31/12/2025

Typology:

Development and diversification of forestry uses and harvests

Total budget:

2,098,077.14 euros

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

1,993,173.28 euros

The Upper Tagus is one of the most depopulated rural areas in Europe, and the demographic challenge must be addressed in a comprehensive manner. The main objective of the project is to address the demographic challenge and depopulation in one of the most sparsely populated rural areas in Europe, by generating green jobs through sustainable forest management, jointly exploiting timber and non-timber forest resources, and making them resilient spaces against climate change in order to ensure their preservation and biodiversity. The project was born with the mission of reactivating a rural environment in the so-called “empty Spain” and to generate entrepreneurship and employment based on the sustainable use of its forests.

The project aims to address the demographic challenge and depopulation in one of the most sparsely populated rural areas in Europe by generating green jobs around sustainable forest management (SFM).

• Contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and forest habitats in the Upper Tagus, through sustainable forest management practices and ecosystem protection.
• Creation of opportunities in the rural world and generation of green jobs through the creation of platforms, awareness campaigns and specific training.
• Reduction of the gender gap in the Upper Tagus region.
• Promotion of reindustrialization in Alto Tajo through the creation of new companies and the implementation of sustainable economic options.

• Improvement of mycological production through the restoration of 235 ha in Orea’s forests and the conservation of 400 ha of mature stands, with their corresponding agreements, the drafting of SFM instruments (2 plans, 7,254 ha) and fire prevention plans (10 plans, 80,000 ha), and the identification, quantification and economic valuation of ecosystem services (3 services, 5,000 ha).

 

• Obtaining FSC certification for timber (5,000 m3), certification of 4 companies in the sector in “fair timber” and 2 in non-timber products, creation of an Open Lab that includes results of increased timber marketing (14,000 m3), and training in mycological exploitation with regulation of hunting grounds (84,175 ha), in the mycological sector (80 people) and the resin sector (8 people). It also includes specific training for women entrepreneurship (3 workshops), development of technological projects (creation of 2 companies), identification of emerging application technologies, and development of a business plan for 3 forestry business lines.