The community woodlands of O Rosal register the first projects in the Baixo Miño region with the Ministry of Ecological Transition's CO2 Absorption Register.
The community woodlands of Santa Mariña do Rosal and Tabagón, both in the municipality of O Rosal, have recently restored over 250 hectares of woodland through various restoration projects on part of the area affected by the wildfires that took place in 2013. In one of those fires, for example, almost the entire surface area of the Santa Mariña community woodland, which covers 1,555 hectares, was affected.
Despite the scale of the losses and the environmental impact, both mountain communities have, from the very beginning, opted for the environmental restoration of the affected areas, work which, in the case of the Santa Mariña Mountain Community, will have to continue for at least another five years, given the severity of the damage suffered.
The work already carried out in both communities has mainly consisted of the natural regeneration of native pine stands, opening rows and selecting the trees in the established rows. Both the undergrowth and the remnants of the silvicultural operations were mulched to reduce biomass and protect the new stands from potential fires. The next planned intervention will be the low pruning of the young pines.
In Santa Mariña do Rosal, around 234 hectares were restored, much of it through natural regeneration of native pine, although 8 hectares were planted with genetically improved pine and on 3.8 hectares work was carried out to promote the natural regeneration of the native broadleaved species present.
In San Miguel de Tabagón, a 20.5-hectare regeneration of native pine was carried out, using both mechanised works and manual labour in those areas that could not be mechanised.
Registration in the CO2 Absorption Register
Following the works, both communities proceeded to register the restoration projects in the Ministry of Ecological Transition's CO2 Absorption Register. This registration will allow them to receive funds from companies interested in offsetting their carbon footprint, as the planted areas are expected to absorb around 75,000 tonnes of CO2 over the period during which the communities have committed to keeping the tree stands standing, which ranges from 30 to 40 years.
The funds raised will be allocated entirely to the maintenance of the woodland and the necessary silvicultural works (clearing, pruning, thinning) to achieve the goal of bringing these forest stands to maturity, thereby contributing to the environmental restoration of these degraded areas.
Collaboration of the Galician Forestry Association
The restoration projects promoted by the two mountain communities of O Rosal received the support and coordination of the Galician Forestry Association, and are included in the plan for restoring degraded areas that this organisation is developing at a regional level.
The main objective of this plan, which is being carried out simultaneously in all four Galician provinces, is to attract funding from companies interested in voluntarily offsetting their CO2 footprint. These funds are intended to accelerate the recovery of forests affected by wildfires in recent years, or to promote the reforestation of areas that have been bare for more than 30 years.
