Betula is a non-profit association for the management of the Atlantic Forestborn with the intention of the conservation and restoration of the natural, cultural and landscape heritage. Precisely for this purpose, the entity has recently become the owner of several plots of land located in the ‘Nature Park Fragas do Eume’.
The expansion of these countries – close to the village of As Leguasin the municipality monfero– comes from 17,000 square meters or, what is the same, some 31 irons. The purchase of these properties was not easy for the association, not only because of the financial costs it entailed, but also because of the bureaucratic procedure that an action like this entails, explains the vice president of Betula, Pedro Cruzado. Currently, the entity has acquired 16 hectares and another 305 hectares under management agreement.
Betula wants to transform the mountain into ‘Fragas do Eume’ and cut down the eucalyptus trees on it and in the future plant different native leaf species such as oak, birch and chestnutsamong other types of trees.
With this intervention the ecosystem of the native fauna would be improved and moreover biodiversity would be enjoyed. These types of actions also stop the impact of climate change..
Restoration of the Atlantic Forest in the vicinity of the ‘As Fragas do Eume’ Natural Park
Ecologists have entered into a partnership with the Association Betula to support the restoration work of the Atlantic Forest in the area around the ‘Like the Fragas do Eume Natural Park‘: removal of eucalyptus trees from plots in need of restoration and subsequent planting – or natural regeneration – of species typical of the Atlantic Forest.
This initiative promotes the recovery of hardwood forests in Galicia and in particular better protection of themSuch as the Fragas do Eume Natural Park and protected areas against the expansion of the eucalyptus.
This is evident from recent research published in the Biological Mission of Galicia (MBG-CSIC), In a period of 25 years, the loss of 17.6% of the native forest in the Parque Natural das Fragas do Eume has been confirmed, as well as an increase in the number of eucalyptus plantations. Specifically, the presence of eucalyptus increased by 48.2% between 1997 – the year it was declared a natural park – and 2022, demonstrating the failure of forest management in the region. Council of Galicia.
In this sense, Environmentalists are demanding the extension of the current moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations until 2030 and denounces non-compliance by the Council of Galicia of one of the guidelines indicated in the Galician forest plan in force: reduce the eucalyptus area by 5% by 2040.
According to preliminary data from Continuous forest inventory of Galicia corresponding to the year 2023, in Galicia There are 419,051 hectares of eucalyptus trees (masses dominated by this species), 1.4% more than in 2022, due to the ‘tree’ of the plantations established just before the moratorium came into effect, in July 2021, and the many cases of non-compliance reported since then.
The temporary moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations ends in December 2025
But the reasons that led to that decision are still valid.. Not just because it is so the Galician Forest Plan has not been respected O because the species is still illegally planted in protected nature reservesbut because The end of the moratorium would be a serious blow to the sawmill sector, continuing the wave of replacement of conifers with eucalyptus trees..
Last September Environmentalists have proposed to the Bizkaia Provincial Council to extend the current moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations in this area of the Basque Country until 2030. This proposal was formulated during a presentation at the General Assemblies of Bizkaia on the occasion of the debate on the amendment of the Foral standard 3/94 of forests. As in Galicia, the current moratorium, which expires in December 2025, is associated with structural problems that threaten the supply of softwood wood for the industry in the Basque Country.
Environmentalists are also drawing attention to the danger posed by the Altri pulp mill project in A Ulloawhich could mean a new cycle of eucalyptus plantation expansion Galiciaand requests the Council of Galicia to throw it away.
Although there is a market for all eucalyptus cuts in Galicia, the company has presented a project that, according to its own data, implies a consumption of 1.2 million m2.3 in the first phase and likely almost double when at full capacity.
For environmentalists, The pressure of the paper industry on the territory is unbearable and endangers its ecological integritythat have already deteriorated, such as socio-economic sustainability.
The consequences of climate change, including the persistence of various pests affecting conifers in areas of the north and northwest of the peninsula (brown band and pine resin canker, among others) or the recurrence of new outbreaks of the pine nematode in some locations of the peninsula Galiciacreates uncertainty among forest owners, which could lead to massive replacement of coniferous plantations with eucalyptus, a situation that is precisely the origin of the imposition of the current moratorium in Galicia and Bizkaia.
Both moratoriums last until 2030as in the case of Portugal, will be allowed avoid hasty short-term decisions, and dangerous processes of eucalypticization of the territory, with undesirable consequences from a socio-economic and environmental point of view.