The demonstration stand at Pico Sacro is located in the municipality of Boqueixón (parish of Lestedo), in the province of A Coruña, and aims to become a reference site for those interested in learning about silvicultural techniques and sustainable procedures for managing broadleaf plantations to produce high-value timber, compatible with the conservation of environmental values.
It was designed to enable the carrying out of outreach activities aimed at potential users: forest owners, community woodlands associations, forest managers, forestry school students, students, researchers and experts. The layout of the forest allows for convenient access and features signage for the demonstration plots and educational trails.
The demonstration mountain project hosts silvicultural models that reconcile its role as a biological sink for greenhouse gases with the harvesting of various forest products, both timber and non-timber.
The project seeks to promote these silvicultural models among Galician forest owners and aims for the woodland to serve as an operational reference site for disseminating silvicultural techniques and knowledge, as well as for practising sustainable resource management procedures.
The development of this project stems from an original idea by the AFG, which was carried out with the collaboration of a team of experts from various institutions heavily involved in improving the Galician forests.
The project was sponsored by the INDITEX Group and, with its support, the outreach and training activities are carried out each year. This business group, within the framework of its corporate environmental and social commitment policy, promotes lines of research in the field of forestry, including the genetic improvement of various tree species such as the cherry tree (Cherry tree), the chestnut tree (Chestnut x Hybrid) and others that need to be introduced into the Galician mountains to close the loop and allow these innovations and knowledge to reach Galician foresters.
The demonstration forest was inaugurated on 21 March 2018, coinciding with the celebration of International Day of Forests.
The owners of the mountain and its management
The demonstration forest covers an area of 18 hectares and belongs to eleven forest owners who have entered into a long-term agreement with the Forestry Association of Galicia for the management of their properties. Before the intervention began, the site was in a state of severe deterioration, with eucalyptus stands originating from past fires and heavily affected by gonipterus attacks, plots that had evolved naturally without any care, and agricultural crops under low-intensity management.
The mountain is managed by the technical team of the Galician Forestry Association, with the collaboration of experts from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Association for the Conservation of the Galician Forest Ecosystem (ACEFGA).
Characteristics of the mountain and the plantations and interventions carried out
The mountain is situated on the southern slope of Pico Sacro, in terrain characteristic of the agricultural–forestry interface where forage crops, forest plantations and stands of broadleaves currently intermingle.
The most relevant seasonal and forest characteristics are as follows:
- Altitude: 300 to 350 m
- Aspect: predominantly south-facing
- Annual precipitation: 1,200–1,400 mm
- Average annual temperature: 13 °C
- Sols: derived from siliceous gneissic rocks, with a texture ranging from loamy-sandy to loamy and a low content of alterable minerals.
- Current area: 18 ha
- Forest floor area: 10 ha
- Agricultural land area: 8 ha
- Participating owners: 11
- Grouped cadastral plots: 14
- Species used: cherry, walnut, chestnut and American oak
- Main products to obtain: high-value timber, mushrooms and wild fruits.
- By-products: fodder (maize and grass). The woodland is divided into two zones corresponding to the rural soil classification (forestry and agricultural) across the entire plot. In addition, the woodland features conservation and stewardship areas, with the most distinctive ecological enclaves spread throughout the site.
What's planted?
At the demonstration plantation on Pico Sacro, chestnut, cherry, walnut and American oak were used; the latter is a plant derived from genetic material improved by the Lourizán Forestry Research Centre as part of projects promoted by the INDITEX Group.
Material from renowned nurseries and research centres in southern Europe was also used.
Visits to the demonstration mount of Pico Sacro
Visits are organised by the AFG upon request from interested entities, and visitors will be accompanied by experts trained for this purpose.
Visitors can observe:
- Plantations demonstrating the results of genetic improvement research lines, assessing the growth of the trees.
- Find out about the planting and fertilisation methods used and their costs.
- Visualise and practise silvicultural operations such as formative and quality pruning, preventive sanitary treatments, or the harvesting of fruits and mushrooms.
- Monitor the conservation and stewardship of areas aimed at improving natural habitats.
- To learn about high-value wood, fruit and mushroom production and to find out about the economic returns.
- Examine the advantages of having forest certification and of selling certified harvests.
