The County Council of Granada today inaugurated the poplar mother stock field created in the Provincial Nursery in Cortijo Peinado in the municipality of Fuente Vaqueros. This action is carried out thanks to the transfer of one hectare of land to the Life Wood for Future project, translated as Wood for the Future in Spanish, which has European funding from the Life program for climate change mitigation. In this case it focuses on the promotion for the recovery of the historic poplar groves of the Vega de Granada. The event was attended by the provincial deputies of Employment and Sustainable Development, Ana Muñoz, and Environment and Animal Protection, Maria Carmen Fernandez, as well as the UGR professor Antolino Gallego, coordinator of the European Project Wood for the Future.

Specifically, almost 20,000 mother vines have been planted in the space ceded to the project in the Cortijo Peinado, each with the capacity to produce dozens of new cuttings or cuttings for several years, and which have been divided into two distinct parts. On the one hand, environmental varieties for plant restoration, such as the native Populus alba and Populus nigra (black and white poplar), which the municipalities can request through the channels provided by the Provincial Nursery with discounts of up to 80% on the market price.

In the other half of the field there are poplar clones (Beaupré, MC and I214) that, due to their characteristics of strength, flexibility and rapid growth, are ideal for the production of structural wood elements. Currently there is a growing demand for wood products in the construction sector but, paradoxically, in Spain they have to be imported from other European countries because there is not enough local production of quality.
The deputy of Employment and Sustainable Development has pointed out that the transfer of land for the Wood for the Future project is part of the objectives of the provincial nursery, among which are to provide a solution to municipal public spaces for recreation and leisure; to ensure that parks become structuring elements of urban space and assist municipalities, with the delivery of the best adapted plants, to have sustainable parks and gardens.

Ana Muñoz has stated that the project aims to give added value to poplar as raw material, promoting new plantations with Sustainable Forest Management seal, in addition to promoting a local industry of proximity, for a construction towards sustainability and circular economy, and to promote the recovery of native poplars in banks and other areas of the fertile plain of Granada, as a tool to mitigate climate change and an element of environmental, landscape and cultural value.

The provincial deputy of Environment and Animal Protection has highlighted that within the framework of this project will be carried out reforestation actions, as well as the promotion of the association of producers and the promotion of the use of poplar wood in structural elements of the construction sector. He also insisted on the need to ensure that the poplar groves, so important for the Vega, are useful for the socioeconomic development of the province and to “revalue poplar wood”.

For his part, Professor Antolino Gallego stressed that, currently the project, in addition to the field of mother vines, has carried out the replanting of 40 hectares of demonstration plantations and has extracted the wood necessary for the characterization of poplar wood at national level from six locations in Spain (two in the Duero Valley, two in the Ebro and two in Granada). As he pointed out, the development and testing of poplar structural products has also begun, and the wood has been extracted for the construction of the demonstration building for these products. “Measures have also been implemented in IFAPA demonstration plots to scientifically evaluate the environmental benefits of poplar: nitrate absorption, reduction of air pollution, lower temperatures and carbon absorption,” he added.

In the last 20 years, the area devoted to poplar cultivation in the province of Granada has been drastically reduced, from about 12,000 to 4,000 hectares, due to its loss of economic competitiveness against intensive agricultural crops. In this sense, Life Madera para el Futuro and COSE have promoted the creation of the first Poplar Producers Association of Granada (Marjal), which has already been joined by 73 foresters with the aim of defending their interests more strongly and providing raw material in sufficient quantity and quality to promote the implementation of a structural wood industry of proximity.

In addition to promoting the circular economy and sustainable development, the recovery of poplar groves in Granada has important environmental benefits. This species, so deeply rooted in the province, has an enormous capacity to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and filter polluting gases from urban traffic. In addition, these forestry operations contribute to reduce the temperature and cool the environment, filter water contaminated by the use of fertilizers in other crops, prevent erosion and attract plant and animal biodiversity.

In the Provincial Nursery, more than 300 different species are grown, both ornamental and forage, cereals and leguminous plants, to provide the municipalities of the province with specimens for public parks and gardens, with the aim of improving their biodiversity, their urban landscape and the health of their citizens.

In addition to the areas of Employment and Sustainable Development and Environment and Animal Protection of the Provincial Council, participating in the implementation of this project, the University of Granada, which coordinates it, the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Confederation of Organizations of Foresters of Spain (COSE) and the spin off 3edata.