Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Cáceres, Badajoz (Extremadura)

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2024

Duration:

01/01/2024 - 31/12/2025

Typology:

Development and diversification of forestry uses and harvests

Total budget:

1,237,770.48 euros

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

1,175,881.95 euros

The Arrago Valley is located in the northwest of Extremadura. Its 11,974 hectares are home to four municipalities with an overall population density of less than 10 inhabitants/km²; in other words, it is a demographic desert. 95% of the forest masses are populated by pine trees in various stages of post-fire development, which, together with its orography and other biophysical factors, make the valley one of the two areas with the highest fire risk in Extremadura.

The EVCArrago project will create a framework of participation that will facilitate the incorporation of new agents in the primary sector with the direct participation of the Arrago Valley’s local population. In this way, the aim will be to regenerate the mosaic landscape of the upper Extremadura region as a guarantee of resilience to climate change, forest fires and the abandonment of agricultural activity. In addition, it will seek innovation in the traditional agrosilvopastoral uses of the ecoregion of the mountain forests of the western and northwestern Iberian Peninsula, conserving biodiversity and generating green and circular economies.

To ensure forest management conditions that prioritize the prevention of forest fires with the aim of protecting the soil against erosion and landslides, as well as contributing to rural development, the regulation of the area’s hydrological regime, the mitigation of climate change and the preservation of biodiversity in the Arrago Valley, one of the areas with the highest fire risk in Extremadura.

• Participatory process in four municipalities of the Arrago Valley for
• establish the landscape model.
• Study of LandscapeFire fire risk scenarios and establishment of strategic management points and areas.
• Management plans and PREIFEX of Montes Protectores del Valle.
• Training plan for agrosilvopastoral entrepreneurship.
• Cultivation of small fruits in both agricultural and forestry land (forest species) such as strawberry trees.
• Cultivation of chestnut fruit.
• Silvicultural treatments to promote resin production and silvopastoralism.
• Establishment of agroforestry test areas.
• Hub of the green and circular economy of the Arrago Valley.
• Project accelerator for the generation, transformation and commercialization of agroforestry resources.
• Innovative sub-herding in the Arrago Valley.
• Monitoring of ecosystem results through an accredited and verifiable standard for the market.
• Communication.
• Coordination.