- Concerned about the current forestry model and management, several groups have been set up in Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Álava in recent years. Last March, they decided to bring together eleven of these groups and organise them on a joint working platform. “Due to the disease of pine, eucalyptus is increasingly entering our environment and we have decided to join forces to deal with this dynamic,” said Edu Zabala, a member of the Garagartza platform. A collection of signatures has been launched to ask the administration to take account of the damage to the industrial forestry sector and to promote a new forestry model.
Many peoples were in favour of the indigenous forest and fighting groups against the monocultures of pines and eucalyptus, of which 11 have joined the Living Forests platform: Eibar, Soraluze, Bergara, Amurrio, Mutriku, Berriatua, Arratia, Donostia, Goierri, Ataun and Irun are represented on the platform. Currently, most CAPV lands are held by private owners, and because of their profitability, pine forests have been the dominant ones to date. However, due to the brown band disease, many of them are paralyzing, but instead of taking advantage of the time to wager on a more sustainable forestry model, they have denounced from the platform that eucalyptus is entering ever more.
“Monocultures drown away the flora and fauna, and when the matarrase is done every twenty years, the land becomes unprotected,” says Zabala. Pines and eucalyptus completely absorb water and fertilizers from the earth, so they grow rapidly. But at the same time, they leave the land weak and their plants and trees are at greater risk of disease. “We need a resilient forest that favors biodiversity, composed of hardwoods.” The platform is presenting motions in several municipalities so that no eucalyptus is planted in their land and more public land is purchased.
Press and action conference on 12 June in Dima
The platform has launched the “No to Eucalyptus for Living Forests” campaign and are now seeking the accession of people and collectives. A press conference will be held on 12 June in a Dima village to present the platform and the campaign. “After the press conference, we will take out the eucalyptus on the grounds of this baserritarra in collaboration with the Lurgaia Foundation,” the member explained. In these lands, the indigenous forest will be planted.
The groups on the platform have noted that the public is increasingly concerned about this issue and that they are currently receiving a good response from the citizens. “In the midst of a climate emergency, it is essential to move towards another forestry model. We cannot continue to look in the short term as before and to devote ourselves exclusively to earning money,” he added. Without going too far, there are exemplary experiences in Ipar Euskal Herria and Navarra. The idea of the platform is to look a little bit more and get on the road.