Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Teruel (Aragón), Cuenca and Soria (Castilla y León)

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2024

Duration:

01/01/2024 - 31/12/2025

Typology:

Development and diversification of forestry uses and harvests

Total budget:

1,999,727.8 euros

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

1,899,741.43 euros

72% of Spanish forests are private and many of them are not properly managed or are in a state of abandonment. This abandonment causes a process of densification of the forests or, on the contrary, of desertification, which has important environmental, economic and social consequences. Recent experiences, such as Montes de Socios or Mosaico, have shown that investing in dynamization achieves a return in forest management.

RECONECTA aims to raise the awareness of these landowners and facilitate the management of their farms by enhancing the forest bioeconomy in rural areas while preserving their natural values and increasing their resilience.

To increase the management of private forest estates and partner forests, especially in the areas with the greatest rural exodus, by restoring landowners’ confidence that it is possible to manage their land properly from a distance, boosting the local bioeconomy linked to forests and minimizing environmental and climatic risks in the rural world.

• Promotion of forest management with the development of a digital tool for the detection of forest owners in priority areas for the demographic challenge of the provinces (10,000 owners are identified and 1,000 owners of abandoned forests begin to manage them, and 80 local groups of owners are generated).
• Plans for the use of timber and non-timber resources (125) covering 8,550 ha (beekeeping, livestock, biomass, truffle, etc.) and field actions with an investment of €60,000 per province; restoration actions aimed at recovering the grazing capacity of silvopastoral areas (approx. 135 ha), forest fire prevention actions (approx. 45 ha), and restoration actions aimed at recovering the beekeeping capacity of forest areas (approx. 45 ha). It is also foreseen to harvest 37500 Tm of timber.
• Promotion of entrepreneurship and bioeconomy with training workshops for forestry entrepreneurship (at least 12) with the generation of business models and it is expected to generate 50 direct and indirect jobs for farm owners, for the use of resources under their ownership. It is also intended to mobilize stewardship entities and companies in forest management projects or water or carbon footprint offsetting.