The first phase of reforestation of the area affected by the fire that last summer devastated 1,564 hectares in the Sierra Oeste de Madrid, which is part of the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of the Natura 2000 Network Protected Area of the Basins and Holm Oaks of the Alberche and Cofío rivers, has already begun.

These are the first steps of the reforestation project prepared by the Community of Madrid, a first phase that has had a budget of 1.5 million euros, with an investment of 713,000 euros provided by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and the Environment.

In order to prevent the rains from eroding the plant surface and preventing the remains from being dragged into the river, natural barriers built with burned trees have been installed. This guarantees the conservation of a better state for its natural regeneration while the accumulated remains become an optimal fertilizer for the affected areas.

The second phase, which is expected to involve a reforestation of 500 hectares, will arrive in the autumn of next year, after analysing the natural regeneration that the affected area has experienced. This reforestation will be carried out with actions such as the hole drilling technique, repopulating with species typical of the Mediterranean forest such as oak, cork oak, fresh, quejico and pine.

With the aim of keeping the multifunctionality of the plant surface intact and establishing a mass that favours and conserves the original biodiversity of the Mediterranean forest, these reforestation actions will promote the improvement of the habitat of fauna and flora through the creation of ponds for amphibians and shelters for birds in the area.