La repoblación forestal en España: las especies utilizadas desde 1877 a partir de las cartografías forestales

Abstract

The modern reforestation of Spain began in the second half of the nineteenth century. The aim of this study is to analyze the tree species involved and the three different historical stages that occurred between 1877 and 2013. This analysis is based on the official statistical series and national forest maps (NFMs) published in 1966 and 1997. Using NFMs, the estimated total reforested area was found to be, respectively, 33 and 18% higher than the estimates available in the official statistics for the corresponding historical periods. This highlights the great importance that reforestation has had in shaping the Spanish landscape, as well as the value of NFMs in filling the gaps arising from data based entirely on statistical series only. The NFMs of 1966 and 1997 explain the rapid spread of fast-growing species such as eucalyptus, Monterrey and Maritime pines and poplars, which represent up to 46% of the total reforested area according to the NFM of 1997. However, native pine have been the predominant species in reforestation throughout this historical period although, from 1993 onwards, the use of native hardwoods, especially certain species of oak, came to dominate reforestation projects on privately-owned land. The national reforestation maps presented here allow further research on the spatial-temporal evolution of the reforested areas in order to gain further insights into the resulting forested stands and landscapes.