The Biodiversity Foundation, a public foundation of the Government of Spain, under the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, collaborates in the planting of 75,000 trees in Spain through its own projects and by supporting a network of organizations. There are three types of actions that have the tree as the protagonist: forest management aimed at preventing erosion, desertification and fires; the new sustainable use of natural resources and the improvement of habitats of protected species.

On the occasion of World Forest Day, which is celebrated tomorrow, the Biodiversity Foundation wants to highlight some of the projects it develops, both in Spain and in the Mediterranean area and in Africa.

“One hundred million trees in the Iberian Peninsula” is the project that the More Trees Foundation proposes for all Spanish regions through a network of volunteers, with the horizon of 2012. “The design of a strategy for the prevention of large forest fires through the multifunctionality of the forest and the mosaic landscape”, for its part, is the title of the project carried out by the Association for the Socioeconomic Promotion of the Municipalities of the Caroig, and which aims to overcome the tactic of linear firebreaks, insufficient to deal with the extinguishing work.

Among other national entities that work together with the Biodiversity Foundation against erosion, for the prevention of fires and in the reforestation of degraded or burned areas, we can mention the Association of Rural Development Group of the Subbética Cordobesa, the Sponsor a Tree Foundation and the Association of Naturalists of the Southeast.

On the other hand, good forest management seeks to achieve a sustainable use of resources in areas that require special intervention, which results in benefits in terms of promoting rural employment and population fixation. In this sense, work is being done on the project “Conservation and promotion of the chestnut tree in the Natural Monument of Las Médulas”, in León, and on the “Environmental rationalization of the use of phytosanitary products and water in fruit crops in the valley of Las Calderechas, in Burgos”. Mention can also be made of the experiences of using resin as a guarantee of conservation of the pine forests of the plains, in Castilla y León, or the project “The flying buttresses of agricultural custody in Menorca”.

Likewise, the conservation of endangered species of fauna requires actions to improve habitats. In this field, the Biodiversity Foundation collaborates with SEO/BirdLife in the rescue of capercaillie specimens in the forests of the Cantabrian Mountains. Likewise, it works together with the Brown Bear Foundation in the planting of fruit trees in the municipalities of Villablino and Cangas del Narcea, with the aim of increasing the bear’s food availability.

Within the framework of the Empleaverde Programme, the Biodiversity Foundation also promotes job creation in the forestry, agricultural and timber sectors, supporting initiatives such as, among others, the Cartif Foundation, in Castilla y León, to promote the use of biomass as an energy resource; that of the Foundation for the Promotion of Employment and Services in Salamanca, aimed at improving the training of workers in the meat, agro-industrial, tourism and forestry industries with an environmental impact in the area, and that of the Union of Ranchers and Farmers of León to promote knowledge about energy efficiency in agricultural farms, as well as to develop the production of biomass for biofuels.

THE TREE AS A VEHICLE FOR COOPERATION

The tree is also the vehicle for cooperation in disadvantaged areas of the world. This is the experience of the Technology and Forestry Centre of Catalonia which, with the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation, is carrying out a project for the sustainable management of forest resources and the revitalization of rural populations in Syria and Lebanon.

In the first phase, specialists from the Centre Tecnologic modelled forest dynamics in Bkassine (Lebanon) and Al Fronloq (Syria), areas of high pressure on natural resources for which insufficient information is available. The progressive degradation and disappearance of forest cover must be opposed to conservation management, with an emphasis on the sustainable use of resources. After the preparation of the forest inventory, debate days were organized with university professors, municipal authorities and rural residents, to learn about their demands and advance in the diagnosis of the areas that will become the vanguard of the changes.

The objective is to ensure that the conservation of biodiversity is compatible with social uses; that is, the collection of medicinal and aromatic plants, grazing and rural development, in general. A challenge for the imagination of scientists and managers who cannot apply European recipes, due to the enormous differences in land ownership and agricultural dynamics.

Finally, there are other development cooperation projects in Africa, such as the one promoted since last year by the Canarina Association in Nouadhibou, Mauritania, and which links the reforestation of degraded areas with agricultural development and organic food production. Creating a green lung for the city while generating employment and facilitating the activity of some 500 farmers are missions supported by the Biodiversity Foundation. Training tasks on pests, irrigation management and plant nutrition are heading towards this horizon. The municipal nursery is already operating there.