Poplar producers organize the first timber auction in the history of Granada

The Marjal association was presented this Thursday at the Carmen de los Mártires to representatives of the City of Granada, the Andalusian Government, the Provincial Council and the University.

The Association of Poplar Producers of Granada Marjal announced yesterday the celebration on October 21 of the first auction of wood in the history of the province, with a long tradition in the cultivation of this species. The announcement was made by the promoter of the group and manager of the Confederation of Organizations of Foresters of Spain (COSE), Patricia Gómez Agrela, at an event in the Carmen de los Mártires that brought together producers Granada and representatives of the City of Granada, the Junta de Andalucía, the Provincial Council and the University.

Patricia Gómez explained that the aim of the auction is to “concentrate supply, provide transparency and consolidate the poplar wood value chain”. This is a very widespread formula in northern Spain, which offers the processing industry a stable and quality production, while favoring the interests of producers, who obtain better prices for their wood.

For her part, the president of Marjal, Victoria Carreras, explained that the conditions of the auction will be published today in the Official Bulletin of the Province and loggers will have until October 17 to submit their bids for the different lots, in sealed envelopes. The opening of tenders before a notary will take place on October 21 at noon at the headquarters of the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (Ifapa) of the Junta de Andalucía, in the Camino de Purchil. The lots, totaling more than 6,500 poplars in various parts of the province with a total minimum price of more than 500,000 euros, will be awarded to the highest bidder.

The Marjal group, which brings together 74 producers with almost 1,400 hectares of poplar crops, was formed last spring under LIFE Wood for Future, a project funded by the European Union’s LIFE program for the mitigation of climate change which includes the University of Granada, COSE and the Provincial Council, among other partners.

The producers associated in Marjal, said the manager of COSE, “not only pay tribute to the poplar, but are committed, with their good work and their work, to offer a quality resource, local and sustainable production, to increase CO2 sinks, to maintain the landscape of Lorca, and to improve the biodiversity of the Vega. It depends on their efforts that the province of Granada stands as one of the largest producing areas of poplar wood in Spain, as it was in the sixties of last century, and one of the most important reservoirs of nature”.

Patricia Gómez also emphasized that poplars are true “purifiers” of polluted water, which they clean up in rivers and aquifers, and effective carbon sinks. “They are a perfect machine, with extraordinary yields due to their rapid growth,” she said.

Institutional support

Marjal’s ‘coming out’ in Carmen de los Mártires was presented by the Mayor of Granada, Francisco Cuenca, and was attended by the Director General of Forestry Policy of the Junta de Andalucía, Giuseppe Aloisio, the provincial deputy for Employment and Sustainable Development, Ana Muñoz, and the Vice Rector of University Extension and Heritage of the University of Granada, Víctor Medina. Also spoke Antolino Gallego, coordinator of LIFE Wood for Future (Wood for the Future), the European project driving the union of producers, and the honorary president, Javier de Teresa.

The mayor recalled that in the same space was signed a few months ago the so-called Pact of the Martyrs, in which institutions and social partners pledged to seek future opportunities for Granada and, among them, he said, were the poplar groves of the Vega as “development and growth bet”, for which he offered the collaboration of the City Council of the capital and its contacts with large companies that could contribute to “enhance” this extraordinary natural resource.

The general director of Forestry Policy committed the support of the Junta de Andalucía for this project that “rescues an agricultural and forestry tradition” of Granada to generate a productive fabric essential to combat the depopulation of rural areas. Giuseppe Aloisio announced that he will seek to fit the populiculture in the regional aid programs. “It is a commitment to the future by looking to the past,” he stressed.

The deputy Ana Muñoz said that the poplar groves of the Vega not only have enormous potential as creators of green jobs and wealth, but also a great capacity to improve the air quality of the Metropolitan Area of Granada, one of the conurbations with the worst pollution rates in Spain.

Vice Chancellor Víctor Medina highlighted that LIFE Wood for Future is a clear example of the impact of the University on society, through the transfer of knowledge generated by university research. He also stressed the UGR’s commitment to the group led by Antolino Gallego, which will be one of the first to move to the San Isidro Sugar Factory, acquired by the academic institution. In that sense, he assured that poplar wood as a raw material for sustainable construction products can become the new engine of industrial development for the Vega, as in the past were the mulberry to produce silk, flax and hemp with cordage and candle factories or beet for sugar mills.

“We have partnered to create beauty, economy and welfare,” concluded Javier de Teresa.