Forests may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the hot and sunny Spanish countryside. But Spain actually has Europe’s fourth largest forest area despite several hundred years of deforestation. The tree species we find in the different regions vary. Join us on an ever so small journey to get to know the Spanish forests. If you want to contribute to planting trees or support those who do, there are ample opportunities where you get to know both the landscape and the people of Spain at the same time.
Almost thirty-six percent, or more than a third, of Spain’s total land area of approximately 505,000 square kilometers are covered by forests. Over the centuries, however, the country’s forested areas have been in decline as wood has been used for a number of purposes throughout history: as fuel, raw material for shipbuilding and for tools and weapons of various kinds.
But one industry in particular has contributed greatly to deforestation for several hundred years. Since the Middle Ages, Spain has had a significant livestock industry. The animals have had large areas to graze on, but some landowners have relentlessly cut or burned down forests to make room for more. Flocks of sheep and herds of cows mainly.
All Spanish forests are not the same
There are two main belts of forests on the Iberian Peninsula. The northernmost belt starts in Portugal, extends through Galicia and the other northern regions of Spain – Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and even Navarre and the western parts of the Pyrenees and south well into the Spanish interior. In these forest areas, tree species such as beech, oak, ash, birch and spruce dominate.
The second main area is in the country’s Mediterranean region. Spruce, oak (including large areas of cork oak), pine, as well as juniper and other low-growing shrubs grow here. By the way, pine trees grow nuts. You may have tasted pine nuts which are the seeds of this tree that can grow up to 35 meters high.
The Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands have distinctive forests as well. And they are well worth a visit. On the Canary Island of La Gomera, for example, you will find the Garajonay National Park where you can hike in its beautiful, fragrant laurel forest. And on the Spanish islands in the Mediterranean there are many beautiful pine forests.
A vicious circle
As early as the mid-19th century, deforestation had become a serious problem in Spain. Without trees and their roots, soil is barely holding onto water. Heavy rains wash out the nutrients in the topsoil, and the top layer of the soil can become so hard that new plants and trees have problems rooting themselves in it. Dry soil is unable to take advantage of the heavy rain showers that often fall in Spain, which may instead result in floods that further deplete the soil. Deforestation is thus the start of a vicious circle.
In the middle of the 19th century, Spanish landowners reported that they could literally observe their topsoil washing away and in 1867, the Spanish government started looking into the problem. Towards the end of the 19th century, the authorities had prepared an assessment of the damage caused by logging and grazing. The conclusion was that about 10 percent of Spain’s territory had to be re-forested. This is equivalent to something like five or six million hectares or between 50,000 and 60,000 square kilometers in need of new trees.
Some afforestation took place as a result of the early mapping of forest areas, but there was a long way to go from mapping damage to actually planting new trees. The modest amount of new planting in the first hundred years was far from enough to remedy the damage that had already occurred.
During the Franco era, a project was started to plant four million hectares of new forest. But to a large extent the same type of trees were planted and often in rows or geometric formations – it looked quite different from the natural forest one wanted to restore. New, fast-growing species were also part of the afforestation program. For example, eucalyptus trees originating from Australia and New Zealand were introduced, i.e. completely different parts of the world than the Iberian Peninsula. At the time, people were not particularly concerned about the ripple effects of such large-scale planting of eucalyptus in the local fauna. Neither did they concern themselves much with the large amounts of water a eucalyptus tree needs. That should prove a significant problem in areas where water shortages were already a problem.
Today, several organizations work to plant new trees with a more holistic approach.
Join in and plant new trees
One of the groups working to make Spain greener, literally, is Reforesta. Reforesta does not plant new forests, but rather individual trees carefully adapted to the place in which it is supposed to grow. Their people spend much time getting to know the local landscape and the vegetation there, before starting the actual planting. They try as much as possible to imitate how nature would have renewed itself with new trees contributing to a richer, more varied plant and animal life and a better micro-climate.
The organization depends on volunteers and financial donations to carry out its work.
If you want to support Reforesta’s work, just go to their website https://reforesta.es/ and have a look or send them an email at info@reforesta.es. To buy a tree as a gift and have Reforesta’s volunteers plant it for you, email them at regalaunarbol@reforesta.es. If you want to see how Reforesta works, you can sign up as a volunteer or for their newsletter. The organization is active in several places in Spain.
If you want to take a closer look at Spanish forests, Spain-Holiday.com has a list of suggestions for trips in some of the most beautiful forests in the country. The list can be found here: Top 10 Spanish forests.
Featured picture from Sierra Espuña, Murcia. (Source: Image by Rubén Lax Navarro, Pixabay).
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