Year after year, Torraspapel continues demonstrating its commitment to Society and the Environment. Torraspapel has taken part in its fifth reforestation project: working in conjunction with two NGOs – Acciónatura(previously Fundació Natura) and Fundación Urdaibai,Torraspapel has helped to restore natural environments of great ecological value that had become degraded and whose conservation was plagued by serious financial difficulties.
Acciónatura was one of the first Spanish not-for-profit NGOs to devote itself solely to protecting, improving and restoring natural ecosystems. Torraspapel has taken part in a number of its projects, at sites where development cooperation is combined with the conservation of nature, in order to enhance the wellbeing of the local community.
The Fundación Urdaibai is now focusing its work in the territory of Biscay in the Basque Country, with particular emphasis on the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve, and Torraspapel played its part there in planting 750 trees this spring.
The area
Two essential factors shape the flora of the Basque Country: its wet climate and its topography. There is a sharp contrast between the northern part, which is on the wet windward side, and the drier southern part on the leeward side.
Deciduous oak and beech woodland is found in most of the region. The Atlantic forests are among the scarcest of the Basque Country's ecosystems, but they are essential for the economy and the ecology, forming a stock of renewable resources that find a very wide range of applications. They are also vital for supplying oxygen for the planet and for absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere – and increasing levels of that gas are causing climate change.
The basin of the Axpe stream lies in the municipal district of Busturia (the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve in the province of Biscay), with a total area of around 3 km². The stream rises in the foothills of mount Sollube, and further downstream it runs through the urban district of Axpe before flowing into the Oka estuary (the Ría de Mundaka). Over its short course, the stream's bed drops some 300 metres in altitude.
Flooding and various human activities – livestock farming, agriculture, forestry, urban development etc. – pursued over many centuries have resulted in a gradual shrinking of the total area of the groves of oak, alder, beech and holm oaks growing along the coast, when once they spread up into the mountains and valleys. In fact the Basque Country's native woods now occupy just 20% of their potential area. Particularly delicate is the situation of the Quercus robur oak groves, which have lost 95% of their original area.
Aims and benefits
The aim in this project was to recover the mixed native forest of Berria and Busturia, re-establishing the original flora, and thus gaining the attendant ecological benefits:
- Restoring the natural habitat in the area selected for action
- Protecting the soil
- Encouraging the flora's growth
- Creating habitats for wildlife
- Contributing to the restoration of the natural landscape
- In the long term, achieving mature communities bringing enhanced biological biodiversity.
There were also other more specific aims in this project, such as:
- Improving the current environmental state of the ecosystem
- Increasing diversity in species, the gene pool and habitats
- Enhancing the presence of native species and assuring strong regeneration for them.
- Launching actions aimed at boosting the rarest or most threatened species of fauna
- Forming a well-structured forest, with a well-developed tree cover, and an understorey providing a home for the local fauna as well as acting as a source of food.
- Reducing the likelihood of further forest fires in the area
- Assuring the maintenance and success of the plantation
Actions carried out
750 trees and bushes were planted in April, the types being decided on the basis of the nature of each particular spot, its orientation, and the type of soil. The plantations were based on the flat-leaved species that are typical of the Basque Country's native woods. These include holly, yew, oak, Turkey oak, birch, alder, ash, beech and maple.
Results /Initial assessment
The plantation work was carried out successfully. Over the next few months, maintenance operations will be performed to assure the survival of the plants, and then there will be a final assessment of the reforestation project.
You can see the Photo Archive at this hyperlink and find out more technical information atwww.accionatura.org