The progress that the forests in Spain have made in the last hundred years is extraordinary. Despite the alarm about wildfires and desertification, the data show a marked increase in forest masses. And they have completely changed the landscape in large parts of the territory.
“We have a lot more forest area than we did 100 years ago. Public opinion has the idea that Spain is a devastated country, but that is not the case at all, in fact we have much more forest than other European countries”, stresses Professor Oliet, Professor of Forestry at the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid. This increase in the number of trees is due to the major historical reforestation.
Low point number of forests in the mid-19th century
The forest masses in Spain had been reduced to about six million hectares by the mid-19th century (a 1903 estimate), but almost two centuries later, the latest statistical yearbook for forestry of the Ministry for Ecological Transition (with modern measurement systems) currently counts 19.2 million hectares of forested forest area.
Reasons of deforestation
Many of the missing trees ended up at sea, for the construction of ships. At that time, the Navy was responsible for managing the forests. But other factors also played a role, such as mining, agriculture and the privileges of replacing trees with pasture for sheep.
The privatisation of forests in the deforestation processes and the “hyper-pressure” of rural communities also played a role. For the rural population it was a matter of survival, wood was essential to be able to feed themselves or not to freeze to death. This was the case until the appearance of the butane cylinder, which was considered the key to the recovery of the forests.
After deforestation came reforestation
Only in the northern part of Spain and in the main mountain ranges did the forest recover spontaneously. In the rest of the country, it was necessary to support this recovery with reforestation. As a result, species of trees have returned that would not have been able to do so without reforestation. The general reforestation plan of the forestry engineers Luis Ceballos and Joaquín Ximénez de Embún after the Spanish Civil War was particularly important. The plan covered between 3.5 and 4 million hectares. But other initiatives also played a role, such as the afforestation of agricultural land, a project that started in 1993. But the forest has also expanded naturally as a result of the rural exodus and the abandonment of farmland.
Anti-pine phobia
Pines played an important role in reforestation. Engineer Pérez-Soba finds the current resistance to pines incomprehensible. They are ‘pioneering species that improve the ecosystem’. According to Oliet, “it is true that there were places where species other than pines could perhaps have been planted, but there was also a very important task of soil restoration and forest cover”.
As Ceballos and Ximénez de Embún said 90 years ago, pine trees were used to stop the erosive processes so that other species could enter. As a result, the forests are now more varied.
Influence of the climate
One of the biggest concerns at the moment is that trees will die due to the climate. “There is a lot of scientific debate about what can be done about recovery in the face of climate change. In general, there is a tendency to be cautious in terms of a very abrupt change in species,” says Oliet, who finds it especially important to manage the inherited stands from historical reforestation. “One of the best-known tools is forestry and reducing the density of trees to increase their ability to withstand droughts,” he says.
In the fight against global warming, massive tree planting seems to be the solution to increase CO₂ absorption. The focus in Spain should not be on more reforestation, but rather on the management of what is there.
Fire is a threat to the forests
Fires are a threat to forests. According to data from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, 3.1 million hectares of forest (excluding scrub and open forest), burned, from the beginning of statistics in 1968 until September 2024. We cannot compare this number of lost trees with the number of trees gained, because there are quite a few areas that have been burned down several times.