The GALICIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION (henceforth, AFG) is a non-profit private association, created in Santiago de Compostela in 1986. It brings together individual private forest owners and private communal neighborhood forest owners in Galicia.

AFG purposes

The benefits you get a AFG for any reason, they will be used exclusively for the fulfillment of these purposes, without being able to be distributed among the partners or other natural or legal persons with a profitable interest.

Activities of the AFG

Throughout the year, the AFG organizes numerous activities related to forestry and forest management; among them, the realization of technical trips, attendance at forestry fairs, the organisation of forestry-related congresses, symposia and seminars. In the field of training, AFG provides courses to its members on the main aspects of forestry and forest management.

On the other hand, all AFG members also benefit from:

• O Monte magazine, published annually and free of charge for members, with a circulation of 2,500 copies. With updated information on timber prices, aid and subsidies, forestry techniques, forest health, regulations...

• The publication of books and manuals on forestry, forestry taxation and forest management.

• Technical library with an extensive bibliographic collection that includes the main books and magazines in the forestry field.

Strategic lines of work

Forest certification

Forestry certification is a voluntary process whereby a third party (independent of forest management) certifies, through an audit process, that the management of a certain forest area conforms to the requirements established in the corresponding certification standard. There are currently several certification systems although, in Spain, the two most representative are PEFC and FSC.

In 2010, the company of AFG SELGA, COMPAÑÍA GALEGA DE SILVICULTORES SL created the SELGA Group, Sustainable Forest Management in order to enable forest certification on the surfaces that belonged to the partners of the Galicia Forestry Association and to the members of the Biomass Producers Association from the South of Galicia.

The principles on which the Group is based are the commitment to forest certification, both PEFC (following the provisions of the Forest Management Standard UNE 162.002) and FSC (complying with the Spanish Forest Management Standards for FSC Certification and the FSC Principles and Criteria in the short, medium and long term) in order to promote the sustainable use of forest products and services.

Minifundium

The small size of the Galician forests represents a serious difficulty in caring for and improving them. Many forest owners abandon management as unfeasible and many of the new owners no longer know where their inherited properties are.

The AFG works in several directions: testing and perfecting forest management models, through the grouping of their owners, and promoting a land concentration, adjusted to forestry needs, that can be applied to areas where it is viable and offering a professional service to identify and map the lands of AFG members.

The individual private owners and private communal neighborhood forest owners

The knowledge of the characteristics of the forest owners, individuals and private communal neighborhood forests, of their demands, as well as the monitoring of the evolution of the forest property, have been the subject of several studies and of constant concern on the part of the AFG.

This line of work will be expanded and intensified at the AFG, forming part of an international forest property observatory promoted by the Union of Foresters of Southern Europe (USSE).

Timber market

The analysis of wood prices and the information on the evolution of the markets are determining aspects to market our products well and to achieve profitability in the forest.

The forest owners who are members of the AFG will have extensive up-to-date information and their own marketing channels that will allow them to sell their wood under the best conditions in the southern European market.

Taxation

The reform of taxation affecting forests is an activity in which the AFG was a pioneer and from which very good results have been obtained for all foresters. However, there are still many aspects to improve.

AFG's team of experts is working on a new set of tax reforms to improve the tax regime for private communal neighborhood forest owners and also for companies with forest properties.

Genetic improvement

The genetic improvement of the main Galician forest species is an unavoidable challenge to improve our forest products and to have a quality forest plant that is resistant to diseases and pests.

The AFG participates in the promotion of lines of research that respond to the real needs of Galician foresters and will increase the transfer of technologies to forest producers in this area. The creation of the European Institute of Cultivated Forestry (IEBC) will play an important role in stimulating forestry research in southern Europe.

Forest health

Our forests, like those of temperate countries, suffer from a high risk of attacks by pathogenic elements that endanger the sustainability of our resources. This is why they require permanent investments to ensure their conservation and reduce the risk of forest fires and pests and diseases.

One of the priority objectives of the AFG is to ensure that Galicia has a permanent structure and a comprehensive health control device in the forests in which foresters can actively participate. Work is also being done to achieve the implementation of insurance against forest disasters.

Normative

Counting on the support of partners and collaborators who are experts in the field, as well as with its own resources, the AFG has a multidisciplinary team that works to improve sectoral and non-sectoral regulations that affect forests, formulating proposals to improve and promote forestry activity, as well as the recognition of the rights and work of forest owners.

 Incentives for forestry investments

Faced with a European horizon in which public aid to forests shows a tendency to decrease, it is necessary to have a financial system adjusted to forestry needs.

AFG has been working for some time on the design of financial instruments and products adapted to the characteristics of forestry investments. A hitherto unexplored sector that is beginning to interest Galician banks.