- The Council of Ministers has authorized, at the proposal of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the territorial distribution of 32 million euros, for submission to the Sectoral Conference on the Environment.
- The change in hydroclimatic conditions, together with the proliferation of forest pests, is causing a serious deterioration of certain forest ecosystems in Spain.
- The actions are framed in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, in Component 4, dedicated to the “conservation and restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity”.
The Council of Ministers authorized yesterday, on the proposal of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), to allocate 248,928 euros to the Community of Madrid to restore forest masses in decline or at risk of desertification. The proposal for territorial distribution approved for the autonomous communities is 32 million euros, for submission to the Sectoral Conference on the Environment.
The actions are framed in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, in Component 4, dedicated to the “conservation and restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity”.
The modification of hydroclimatic conditions, together with the proliferation of forest pests, is causing a serious deterioration of certain forest ecosystems in Spain, threatening their biodiversity and their natural capacity for regeneration. This situation increases the risk of desertification and ecological degradation, increasing vulnerability to possible forest fires, which requires an urgent and effective response in the context of a climate emergency declared by the Government at the beginning of the legislature.
With this agreement, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) reinforces its commitment to forest restoration and strengthening the resilience of public forests against climate change and other risks.
The actions will be developed by the autonomous communities within the framework of their competences and with an investment from Investment 4 of Component 4 of the PRTR: Sustainable Forest Management, which has a total budget of 401 million euros, of which more than 50% has already been transferred. This additional funding package also responds to the recent call by the European Commission to scale up and accelerate the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism funds.
The distribution of funds has been made on the basis of the proposals received from the autonomous communities, ensuring the technical feasibility and execution deadlines set by the PRTR, and with a proportional distribution criterion.
Financed measures
1. Improvement of the structure of forest masses through forest treatments and improvement of habitats.
2. Transformation of the composition towards indigenous and better adapted species.
3. Prevention of forest pests and diseases.
4. Management of combustible vegetation in the face of fire risk.
5. Prevention in areas with a high risk of desertification. 6. Conditioning of forest tracks, as a complementary measure.
These interventions will be carried out preferably in public management areas, in accordance with the management plans and current conservation regulations. They contribute to the development of the Spanish Forest Strategy Horizon 2050 and the Spanish Forest Plan 2022–2032, both structural milestones already fulfilled in the PRTR.
Objectives
- Improve the ecological and hydrological functionality of forests affected by forest decay or at risk of desertification.
- Adapt the structure, density and composition of species to the water supply, improving biodiversity and climate resilience and in the face of other risks.
- Reduce excessive competition, reduce drought-associated mortality, and improve the health of forest masses.
- Prevent fires, desertification, pests and diseases, strengthening the role of forests in the conservation of water, soils and biodiversity.