Reforestation, forestry and wildfires in the dynamics of the Sierra Nevada Natural Area (1881-2018)

Abstract

The development of a general national repopulation plan in 1939 achieved the reforestation of more than 3.5 million hectares in the first 50 years in Spain. In the province of Granada, between 1949 and 1974, 125,619 ha were repopulated of which 42,482 ha were located in the Sierra Nevada nature area. This process generated changes in land use, and specifically, on vegetation and the landscape after carrying out forestation in more than half of the area (22,257 ha). Wildfires burnt more than 14,000 hectares during the last period. The increase in biomass and the high capacity for plant regeneration caused a high frequency of wildfires. For this reason, the reforestation-forestry-wildfires nexus was a key issue in the dynamics of the Sierra Nevada landscape during the last century. This paper focuses on the analysis of the scope of the reforestation intervention and its results. The obtained results highlight how forestry dynamics, the added-value of the extensive pine forests used for repopulation, the frequency of wildfires, and their reforestation capacity, interact in the dynamics of the landscape of the Sierra Nevada nature area.

Keywords

• paisaje
• repoblaciones forestales
• gestión forestal
• incendios forestales
• espacio natural sierra nevada.