The forestry sector and wood construction specialists present in Siles a sustainable economic development project for the region

The Town Hall of Siles has hosted this Friday a conference entitled ‘Wood and its use to reduce the carbon footprint: an opportunity for the Sierra de Segura’, presented to forest owners and other social and economic agents a sustainable development project for this region, which includes municipalities in the provinces of Jaén and Granada.

Marián Núñez, president of the Association of Forest Owners of Eastern Andalusia (Foret), based in Huéscar (Granada); Marta Conde, professor at the University of Cordoba and head of the ReNaturaInzeb project; and Antolino Gallego, coordinator of the European LIFE Wood for the Future project led by the School of Building Engineering of the University of Granada (UGR), participated in the conference.

Marián Núñez recalled the long tradition of forestry in the region and regretted that, in recent years, perhaps because of a poorly focused conservationism, an activity that, far from depredating the forests, has been abandoned, helping to protect them from fires and pests, in addition to promoting economic development and curbing depopulation. In this sense, she encouraged forest owners to join Foret, in order to present a single voice before the administrations, at a key moment when funds are being distributed and rural development plans are being awarded.

The president of Foret stressed that, despite the enormous forest wealth of Andalusia, the owners of this community are hardly represented in the bodies of the sector, as happened recently in the Forestry Congress held in Valladolid, and hoped that events like the one in the town of Jaén will help to reverse this situation. “It is necessary to seek alliances to value the forest wealth and face challenges such as the circular economy, the demographic challenge and climate change,” she concluded.

Marta Conde highlighted that the Sierra de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas is one of the most important laricio pine forests in Europe, but in recent decades its timber exploitation has been abandoned. The forestry engineer stressed that this species provides a very resistant wood of extraordinary quality that has traditionally been used in construction; however, in this region the use is scattered and small, and is largely destined to the manufacture of pallets and pellets, products of low added value. In this sense, he pointed out, it would be fundamental the union of owners, both public and private, to guarantee a stable and quality supply that favors the development of a local structural wood industry. “We have to break the vicious circle that if there is no industry, there is no utilization, and if there is no utilization, there is no industry,” concluded the UCO professor.

Carbon footprint

UGR professor Antolino Gallego explained that, within the framework of the LIFE Wood for the Future project, two structural products are being developed for construction with a low carbon footprint: laminated poplar and pine beams, and others that use both types of wood and also incorporate a concrete slab. “The laricio pine from the Sierra de Segura has exceptional mechanical properties. The use of these large forest masses in the industry can encourage the economic development of these rural areas of Jaén, Granada, Albacete and Murcia and stop their depopulation,” explained the professor of the School of Building Engineering.

He recalled that, in addition to favoring construction with a low carbon footprint, thanks to the capacity of the wood used in construction to sequester carbon for decades or centuries, proper forest management reduces the combustibility of the forests and, therefore, helps prevent the spread of devastating fires such as those that devastated Andalusian forests last summer. “Managed forests grow more vigorously and are able to accumulate more carbon, generate biomass more quickly and maintain biodiversity,” he stressed.

It is, he stressed, a key element in the decarbonization demanded by the objectives of sustainable development and climate change mitigation. “As the engineer Julius Natterer, a pioneer in wooden structures, pointed out, if the forest has value, the forest will always be there,” he concluded.