The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the March 21, International Forest Day. As of 2013, this day will be held every year in order to celebrate and raise awareness about the importance of all types of forest and trees outside the forests.
Forests provide goods such as wood, fuel and food for people, or fodder for cattle, protect biodiversity, soils, rivers and reservoirs, fight climate change and They serve as places where people can approach nature.
Globally, forests are also allied in the fight against climate change, since they absorb and They store large amounts of carbon, helping to reduce the impact of global warming. However, deforestation and forest degradation threaten their ability to continue providing these benefits.
World Forest Day 2025
In Spain, Thousands of people do not know that they own forest landit is estimated that 1 in 6 citizens are. The origin of this situation dates back to the emigrating processes of the countryside to the city that occurred in the 60s of the last century, for which three and a half million Spaniards left their villages and went to live in cities, leaving behind not only houses, but also agricultural and forestry farms.
The most direct consequence of this situation is the current abandonment of much of our forests, which has become a silent threat today that is putting its life at risk: It generates environmental risks such as fires, pests and loss of biodiversity. All these threats are also exacerbated in the current climate change scenario.
The lack of management of these land also means that, instead of taking advantage of the resources that hostel (wood, wood, biomass, resin)we have to buy them in external markets which weakens our economy, it limits employment and it takes the development of rural areas where these mountains are located
That is why they are as important initiatives as reconnect, which has been born to reverse this reality. You have to remember that Spain is one of the countries with the highest percentage of forest area in Europewith a total of more than 26 million hectares and that 72% of that surface is private objective is to encourage.
In this context, revitalizing the mountains is also to bet on conservation. In fact, Reconnect has designed very specific tools for ownersto manage their ownership or undertake, achieving life to the mountains and avoid the progress of rural abandonment, fires and the deterioration of the ecosystem. But for this, the first step is to find and motivate those lost owners.
The way it reconcates it seeks Facing this challenge is to bet on innovative forest governance modelswhere conservation is linked to the value of forest resources and employment generation.
Of three quarters of the forest area that is privately owned in our country, less than 10% have sustainable management certification. This lack of governance and planning and management systems places our forests in a vulnerable position, but, at the same time, it stands as The great opportunity to minimize all the great threats of our forests.