Tools for managing abandoned woodland. Joint management forest associations
José Covelo Míguez
Forest Engineer. Director of the Galician Forestry Association.
If there was one thing on which all those who wrote and commented on the summer 2025 wildfire wave seemed to agree, it was the urgent need to manage the land to prevent the fire from having to do it for us.
The reality of rural Galicia is a far cry from the idealised version of the past, when the countryside was perfectly integrated into the rural economy, proving essential for those who lived off the land to survive. That era, which some authors from an urban perspective now evoke as idyllic, might not have been perceived as such by those who endured the harsh subsistence conditions in rural Galicia in bygone times.
Putting idealisations to one side, we now find ourselves in a very different situation, characterised in broad strokes by:
- A change in the rural economy has led to the abandonment of large tracts of woodland, especially in areas where the average plot size was smaller, making their cultivation or clearing unviable under modern management criteria. These areas are usually situated close to population centres.
- Some settlements characterised by their dispersion across the territory, in some cases encroaching excessively and, in others, even penetrating into the forest.
- A progressive abandonment of agricultural land, encouraged by the depopulation of rural settlements or by the ageing of the small remaining population in those settlements.
In the face of the more than evident change in the way of life of large areas of the Galician countryside, it seems logical that the way the agricultural space is managed should also change. A section of the population, now urban, seems to be looking for a solution in a return to a past that is evoked as more romantic than it actually was. The situation is the one we have now, not that of the 18th, 19th or early 20th century. The way to tackle it must be done with current criteria, and adapted to the reality we face. We are not going to clear the gorse because it is no longer needed for bedding cows that no longer live in the barns, nor will they return to grazing on the hillside unless it is done with a business-like approach or a modern rural economy in mind.
It therefore seems sensible to seek solutions adapted to the reality we already have, not to the one we would like it to be. These management solutions must be adapted to an abandoned space, aiming to maintain it in conditions that minimise the risk of disasters and, if possible, to do so with an efficiency that allows some of them to become spaces of opportunity. To manage the space from a perspective of efficiency, even if this means renouncing the romanticism that any past time was better.
There would be several points to develop on this topic, but this article will delve into only one: how joint forest management groups can become a highly useful tool for that purpose, provided they are properly formulated and in accordance with the wishes of the owners.
We face new social and climate challenges and must do so from a realistic standpoint, even if it is not always the one we would like. Initially, everyone understands and accepts business criteria in economic activities, even within the craft sector. This same criterion should be applied to address the issue of managing rural spaces, their abandonment and the risks it entails. Even if a wave of social and administrative generosity were to flood them with funds that would allow a return to the “craftsmanship of their management”, that wave would have to last over time, and it is unlikely that such a burst of generosity could be sustained for as many years as forestry requires.
Joint Forest Management Groups (JFMG). Among the land mobility instruments available in Galicia, AFXC provide a fairly suitable framework for the joint management of small-scale forest spaces.
According to the Galician Forest Law, AFXCs “are organisations in which are integrated persons who own or hold rights to exploit forest land, which have (among other objectives) to promote the profitability of silvicultural activity.” AFXCs can be of two types:
- Basic AFXC, which is that one grouping that shares information, techniques, experiences, advice or representation; or that markets forest products with the aim, among others, of achieving greater efficiency in the development of these activities.
- Territorially based AFXC, which is the one that concerns us in this case, which, in addition to being able to carry out any of the basic activities, “carry out joint management on a territorial and temporal basis on land made available by owners or holders of rights to exploit forest land, making decisions on management and handling with due regard to the natural, economic and social environment within the framework of a forest planning or management instrument”, as indicated by Law 7/2012, of 28 June, on Galician mountains.
They may apply for recognition as joint management groups:
- Non-profit associations established to provide assistance, support and advice to persons who own or hold the rights to exploit land, in planning agroforestry management and in the joint management and marketing of their exploits, provided they are composed of holders of the aforementioned rights within the Autonomous Community of Galicia.
- Civil partnerships and common property communities.
- Cooperatives and other social economy entities.
- Agricultural transformation societies.
- Commercial companies regulated by the law on capital companies.
- Forest development societies, in the case of joint forest management groups.
- Any other measure aimed at the joint recovery of agroforestry land.
In total, an AFXC should manage a minimum of 10 hectares of land, which may be within one or more joint management perimeters, being those areas where the AFXC can demonstrate that it holds use rights over more than 70 per cent of the land surface included within the perimeter's boundaries.
Advantages of a territorial AFXC grouping. The main objective of a land-based AFXC is to manage an area of land, in many cases abandoned, which would be unviable to manage individually from a technical or economic perspective, thus converting a threat into an opportunity.
Landowners who do not agree to participate in the joint management of the lands included within a joint management perimeter developed by an AFXC are obliged to manage those plots to the same standard as those of the AFXC. It would make no sense that if a significant proportion of the owners or managers of the forests in a given area agree to develop joint management, those who do not wish to participate should be allowed to have their forests abandoned, prejudicing the management carried out by the more active ones, which is why the regulations provide that forests within a joint management perimeter that are not actually managed by their owners can be declared “in a state of abandonment”.
Will of the property. For an AFXC to be created, it is essential that the owners of the land where the initiative is to be developed are convinced of the benefits of ceding management of their woodlands to that AFXC, because if the aggregation process involves having to persuade people who are reluctant to take part in the initiative, the process will wear down its promoters before they have even begun to work towards the main objective. (the management of an area that previously lacked it).
The creation of a jointly managed forest group therefore requires great generosity and trust, especially from the owners of the forests to be grouped, but in general from the society connected to the abandoned or abandoned-stage agricultural land. In the aggregation process, one must have the courage to overcome individualistic and immobilist stances and move towards the collective good which, at the end of the day, will benefit us individually, just as happens with land consolidation processes.
The landowners on whose land a community group wishes to be established, unless the proposal is based on unclear premises, should be the first to be interested in taking part in an initiative promoted precisely so that they can benefit from it, even if that benefit is not financial. The mere fact that any initiative to respond to neglect emerges should, at the very least, warrant the affected landowners' consideration of the proposal.
Good attitude of the Administration. The support and facilities provided by the Administration for the establishment of these joint management bodies are also essential to their success. Given the difficulties involved in bringing a group of people together to manage agricultural properties jointly, without the support, understanding and drive of a proactive and collaborative Administration, the chances of success are reduced.
The Directorate-General for Forest Planning and Management has promoted the concept and shown a firm commitment to supporting the AFXCs that may be established. To this end, two calls for funding to finance their launch have already been closed, and a third is currently under way.
On the other hand, it is necessary for the Cadastre to also get involved, taking the opportunity to recognise and correct the cadastral parcelation of the perimeters of the joint management groupings, based on the property studies that must be carried out for their creation.
Tax advantages of AFXCs. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, mercantile AFXCs (SOFORs) enjoy a 10% deduction in corporation tax for all expenses incurred during the financial year for the improvement, protection and access of the woodland.
In the case of AFXCs that are non-profit associations, they can apply for recognition as a public benefit organisation, which could also bring them tax benefits.
Finally, individuals who wish to participate in the capital of an AFXC have a number of advantages that may be attractive (although it is not a requirement for the owner to participate as a partner for the AFXC to manage their assets):
- Capital contributions, provided they are held for a minimum of 5 years, qualify for a 20 per cent deduction in the autonomous community portion of an individual's personal income tax.
- Loans made to AFXC, provided that the capital is not amortised by more than 20 per cent each year, also qualify for a 20 per cent deduction in the autonomous region portion of the individual's IRPF.
It is important to bear in mind, with regard to a person's participation as a shareholder in an AFXC, that the regulations governing AFXCs do not require that person to be a partner in the AFXC for it to manage their estate. A management delegation contract between the parties may be sufficient.
The AFG experience. After intensive work over the past few months helping to establish several joint forest management groups, the main difficulties we encountered when setting up a JFG were as follows:
- Difficulty in locating the right people to serve as local leaders with sufficient dynamism to mobilise local property owners.
- Distrust in the proposed project due to ignorance and a lack of experience in group work, not seeing the need to manage the forests professionally, and fear of losing ownership, of not being able to access the land, or even of not being able to gather firewood for domestic use.
- Difficulty in locating absent or unknown owners.
- Difficulty in identifying land ownership in inheritance cases involving descendants from multiple generations.
- Initial difficulty in identifying the plots on the land without having carried out clearance works or measures to facilitate access to the plots for their identification and location by the owners or their descendants.
- Very poor property documentation in numerous cases: old quotas not linked to the current cadastral register, inheritances not accepted for several generations, cadastral entries in the names of predecessors that have not been updated or are in the names of incorrect titleholders, plots held in undivided ownership by several people but recognised by only one of the heirs…
Ultimately, the difficulties stem fundamentally from the chaos in which the property finds itself, both legally and physically, and from the laziness of those interested in embarking on a process they see as very difficult and which they have yet to appreciate as the appropriate means of bringing order to a chaotic situation. But now is the time and the opportunity; if we do not seize them, the neglect will worsen even further, increasing the risk of fires and the loss of the property through abandonment.
