For three months A backhoe machine is dismantling part of the southern slope of Najarra to build a forest track, on the mountain owned by the Community of Madrid called Hueco de San Blas, in the municipality of Manzanares El Real. The work is being carried out in the Restricted Use Zone of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, a protected space Natura 2000 Network Special Conservation Area Manzanares River Basin and core area of the Biosphere Reserve Upper basins of the Manzanares, Lozoya and Guadarrama. As evidenced by the accumulation of protection figures, these are an area of high degree of naturalness and, until now, difficult to access.
The forest track, with a length of more than two kilometers, ascends a steep slope, forming a zig-zag, between 1,400 meters and 1,700 meters of altitude. The platform, in some sections, reaches 5-7 meters wide, and can exceed this width in curves.. Slopes (walls) have been generated that can exceed two meters in height. To build this infrastructure, geological formations of great interest such as screes and gleras (rocks formed by the action of ice, in high mountains) have been split. Sections of dry stone walls have also been demolished, a traditional construction art inscribed, in 2018, in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and which, since 2017, have been considered elements of the landscape by the Community of Madrid. .
The works have destructured the soil due to the earth movements that are taking place that affect the bedrock. The hydrogeological structure of the land is also being affected as water surges appear on the wall of some of the slopes, which means that groundwater has been affected.
Las environmental organizations They remember that in 2010 a smaller access was opened in the same area to allow the placement of ibex capture cages. The impact caused was highly criticized and, now, that it was being closed and renaturalized, This track is built that doubles the surface of the previous road, with a huge impact on the environment.
The forest track Its purpose is to allow the entry of heavy machinery (forwarder) to collect the pine trees that are being felled, within the project called Forest treatments for naturalization and improvement of biodiversity in the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. Specifically, lot 3, which is the one being executed in the Hueco de San Blas. The project, included in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, is financed by the European Union –NextGenerationEU, with a total amount of 464,457 euros, of which 132,125 euros correspond to this action. The objective of the project is to reduce the density of the repopulated pine forest of artificial origin to facilitate the development of the understory, the herbaceous layer and increase biodiversity. This is a positive action, the problem is the way the wood is being extracted.
Environmental organizations denounce an ecocide on the southern slope of Najarra
The Master Plan for Use and Management (PRUG) of the National Park does not allow the construction of new tracks or skids. Furthermore, taking into account the slope and sensitivity of the area, the clearing or removal of the logs should have prioritized the use of draft animals and small tractors. This has not been done and the subcontractor that is carrying out the work, Técnicas y Trabajos Forestales Domínguez (TFD), in the face of the passivity of the National Park management, is building a forest track that is neither authorizable, nor contemplated or budgeted in the project. It so happens that this company, based in the municipality of Villamanta, is accumulating complaints from neighbors for developing a sawmill activity, without a license, on non-developable land. At the same time, the Ministry of the Environment has been blocking access to environmental information requested by them for three years. environmental organizationsrelating to said business.
In the opinion of the environmental groups the forest trail is illegal and is causing irreparable damage to a protected space. For this reason, they have reported the company and the construction director to the Ministry of the Environment and have asked the counselor, Carlos Novillo, to stop the works immediately.