Aragón invests 2.5 million in forest health
The Government of Aragón will allocate almost 2.5 million euros from Next Generation funds of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge to improve the condition and resilience of the forested areas in Aragón. This allocation is part of a total package of 32 million distributed among the autonomous communities based on the proposed actions submitted.
The interventions will be carried out in public management forests of eight municipalities in Aragón: Ontiñena and Estopiñán (Huesca); El Frasno, Castiliscar, and Herrera de los Navarros (Zaragoza); and Forniche, Mezquita de Jarque, and Pancrudo (Teruel). The works must be completed before June 2026.
Scheduled forestry treatments
The actions will consist of forestry treatments aimed at recovering the ecological, hydrological, and climatic functionality of forest ecosystems, especially in areas affected by prolonged droughts, pests, or environmental alterations that cause decline and loss of biodiversity.
The main measures include improvement and regeneration cuts: clearings, thinnings, sanitary cuts, and salvage logging to reduce vegetation density, enhance the vitality of dominant trees, and promote natural regeneration. Preventive actions will also be taken to reduce the incidence of pests and forest diseases and minimize the risk of wildfires.
Climate adaptation strategies
In some forests, the species composition of the forest stands will be improved, prioritizing native species better adapted to current and future climatic conditions. In areas without adequate natural regeneration, enrichment replanting will be carried out, including techniques of assisted migration with specimens of the same species from warmer regions.
The majority of the work will consist of the removal of trees at high risk of mortality due to climatic stresses, using forestry machinery when topographical conditions permit and manual labor in other cases.
Intervention will be prioritized in areas particularly vulnerable to desertification to prevent soil loss and recover the ecological functionality of the land. In protected spaces or areas with species of conservation interest, the work will respect the existing management and planning plans.
