66,500 hectares of forests affected by the persistent drought in Catalonia during 2023: we are facing a record in number and extension of forests affected by drought in Catalonia registered since the monitoring of the Deboscatin 2012. In general terms, this 2023 has registered 66,500 hectares of forests that have lost their leaves, dried out, or died due to drought. It is the worst campaign of the entire series and 573 episodes have been registered in total, of which 165 are new from 2023. As for the total area affected, it has been 66,500 hectaresvery above 40,000 in 2012, which was the previous record. The regions most affected have been those in the northern half, with the Selva, Baix and Alt Empordà, Gironès and Osona as the most affected regions.
This 2023 also, unlike other years, has seen an increase in decline in conifers which had not yet been observed, especially due to the impact of the drought on the Scots pine throughout the territory and the delay in the effects of the drought on conifers. These results show us that We worry a lot about whether our forests burn, when we should be equally worried because they are dying of thirst and heat, as has happened in 2023.. Now we have 66,500 hectares affected by drought, but let us remember that the entire forest area burned in Catalonia in the last 10 years amounts to only about 22,500 hectares and that the great fires of 1994 burned 45,000 hectares..
He Deboscat It is a project with 12 years of experience, promoted by the Department of Climate Action of the Generalitat of Catalonia and coordinated by CREATEhas the support of Rural Agents and has the main objective of monitoring drought episodes in our forests and thus obtaining long series on their evolution.
History of forests and drought with ups and downs
After the 2020 campaign, which recorded a minimum of affected area, the 2021 campaign represented a new onslaught of damage in many regions. The 2022 campaign was very notable both for the extent of the area affected (33,000 hectares in total) and for its intensity. However, the persistence of drought to which we are immersed, has meant that the 2023 campaign has been, by far, the most extensive of the entire series of years of the Deboscat (2012-2023). In fact, approximately half of the affected forests are forest masses that had already suffered decline in 2022 and, in 60% of the cases, these forests that had already been affected last year have shown worsening or new damage in 2023.
The persistence of drought, heat peaks and the sustained increase in temperature are having very palpable effects on our forests. In fact, the complexity of the current situation has gone beyond the capacity of the project itself. He Deboscat It is not designed to monitor situations as exceptional as the one we have had in 2023 and it is considered that the final data may be even worse, says Banqué. On the map you can see the forests that had already suffered the effects of the drought in 2022 (in blue) and the new episodes (in yellow), especially in the northeastern half of the country, specifically in the regions of the Selva, Baix and Alt Empordà, Gironès, Osona, etc.
Chronicle of forests affected by drought by region
Thanks to the data obtained by the Rural Agents of each region, the Deboscat has counted the hectares affected in each case. This 2023, Baix Empordà has registered the record for new damages, with 9,230 hectares, La Selva 4,650 hectares, Gironès 3,320 hectares and Osona 2,265 hectares. These values are well above those of previous campaigns. In 2022, the region with the most new impact was Pallars Jussà and it had about 2,600 hectares, only 28% of what Baix Empordà has registered this year. This highlights the magnitude of the effects of 2023.
If we look at the details by region and add the new impact with the old one from 2022, those forests that have not recovered, we see that the counties with the largest affected area are Baix Empordà and Selva with nearly 10,000 hectares affected in each case. They are followed by Osona, Noguera, Pallars Jussà, Gironès and Berguedà, all of them with damage of between 5,000 and 7,000 hectares. The number of hectares recorded is generally so high that the report graph shows only the regions with more than 500 hectares (while in previous reports the regions with more than 50 hectares were shown). In the case of Baix Empordà, most of its damage is new from 2023. La Selva has half of the damage new and the rest are old; and in the case of Gironès (the third region with the greatest new impact) more than half are new. On the other hand, regions such as Noguera, Berguedà, Pallars Sobirà and Anoia have very little new impact.
The drought chronicle by tree species
We know that the response of planifolios (holm, oak, beech, etc.) and conifers (pines and firs) in the face of drought episodes is very different because normally the planifolias respond very quickly (they dry out the leaves and let them fall), while the conifers last longer, until they can’t take it anymore and die suddenly. That’s why, This 2023 has also been an exceptional year for the pines of Catalonia. These species, which had always recorded very low affected area values, in 2023 have an affected area that exceeds most of the values in the planifolio series, 15,600 hectares in total. The damage to Scots pine forests has significantly increased the total damage to conifers this season.
On the other hand, the area of planifolia affected in 2023 is 40,800 hectares, adding the new and old areas, with the holm oak and cork oak as the species with the most area affected.
The objective of DEBOSCAT is to record the forest decline that, for some decades, has been observed both in Catalonia and in the rest of the world. These episodes of decline are very often, directly or indirectly, linked to drought, and represent one of the many effects of the global change we are experiencing. Less availability of water, higher temperatures, appearance of forest pests and having forests with high densities or less managed than at any time.(due to rural abandonment, change in fuel use, etc.) are some of the factors that cause episodes of forest decay.