Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Albacete, Córdoba, Guadalajara, Soria, Teruel and Valencia.

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2022

Duration:

01/09/2022-31/08/2025

Typology:

Sustainable forest management and harvesting

Total budget:

2,102,739.00 euros

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

1.996.359,00 euros

Coordinating entity:

Trade for Development Foundation (COPADE)

Mountain forest villages are home to a great wealth of resources, with a very high biodiversity and good conservation, the result of a sustainable use of these resources.

These are precisely the territories most affected by the abandonment of ancestral uses and depopulation. This human disaffection in the territories has already been typified as one of the main causes of catastrophes such as sixth generation fires, which are unstoppable. This is why it is so important to find formulas that symbiotically link spaces with their inhabitants.

The current situation is a masculinized and aging rural environment, so generating opportunities for women and young people in mountain areas is a great step towards guaranteeing the conservation of territories that have reached our days in an excellent state of conservation, mainly due to this “know-how” and sustainable management.

The trend of the urban industrialization process has generated and continues to generate macro-industries, with complex mechanized manufacturing processes, which are not within the reach of small rural operations, more closely linked to the territory and with sustainable uses that do not fit into the model of rural life, which is more respectful of the spaces they inhabit.

Del Bosque a tu Casa is a project that aims to promote economic initiatives led by women for the sustainable use of non-timber forest products in different forests, reactivating rural environments in areas at high risk of depopulation, through the generation and implementation of new models of rural development that, taking advantage of the different forest resources in a sustainable manner, will generate new enterprises and employment.

The project will first identify and study the species with the greatest potential for use in each forest (wild aromatic herbs, inedible mushrooms, berries, red fruits, pollen and animal products), for which management plans will be drawn up and the types of products to be investigated will be defined, developing, testing and researching formulas for the simple manufacture of these products. Environmental quality sensors will be installed in the forests, and a block chain product traceability system will be developed. It is also planned to create a quality brand and a federation that brings together the various associations in the territories, as well as to develop a significant training activity and a personalized counseling process, all aimed at women, to start up businesses in rural areas.

The project will be implemented in 9 forests (450 ha. in total, in 6 provinces), and provides for 15 approved small-scale production processes, 2 simple and inexpensive prototype models, one for a workshop and the other for a production laboratory, and 1 patent for simple machinery for small-scale infusion packaging. Nine 20-hour training actions will be developed with 20 women per course, and a personalized counseling process for 36 women, with the expectation of obtaining 5 enterprises linked to the project objectives operating at the end of the project, 10 direct jobs and another 9 indirect jobs generated.