La Junta destaca en Bruselas la importancia de la futura Ley de Montes para fortalecer la resiliencia de los bosques ante el cambio climático.

The Minister of Sustainability and Environment of the Andalusian Government, Catalina García, held a meeting in Brussels with the Director of Biodiversity of the Directorate-General for Environment of the European Commission, Humberto Delgado Rosa, as part of her institutional trip to European institutions. During the meeting, she conveyed the firm commitment of the Andalusian Government to active and sustainable forest management, especially in the current context of climate change, and emphasized that the future Forestry Law, currently in progress, will be a key tool to strengthen the adaptability of Andalusia’s forest ecosystems to climate action.

The minister explained that this law «is born with a clear vocation for modernization, protection, and activation of the forest environment as a source of life, employment, and environmental balance in the territory.» As she indicated, its approval «will represent a turning point in the way Andalusia cares for, conserves, and values its mountains and forests.» This new law—the first to be promoted in over three decades—represents a necessary update of the Andalusian forest legal framework, adapted to the challenges of the 21st century.

«We want to build a useful, modern, and ambitious law, that responds to the needs of rural areas and offers real solutions to climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss,» said Catalina García. The minister explained that the draft includes a long-term strategic forest planning, reinforces the protection of public forest land, and promotes sustainable management based on the multifunctionality of forests, their responsible use, and their value as a green employment engine in rural areas.

She also emphasized that the new law includes incentives for private management and the promotion of forestry collaboration entities, as well as the creation of a Network of Exemplary Forests (MUESTRA Network) that will serve as a reference for good practices in conservation and sustainable use. «We aspire for Andalusia to consolidate itself as a pioneering region in Mediterranean forest policy, where sustainability and prosperity progress together,» she added.

Catalina García pointed out that in recent years, the effects of climate change have left a very visible mark on forest areas, especially in provinces most exposed to aridity and water stress. «The prolonged drought, with seven consecutive years of water deficit, despite the recent rains in March, and the high temperatures are causing a very concerning process of forest decline, with weakened masses suffering from loss of coverage, incomplete sprouting, pests, or tree mortality, especially in high and medium areas,» she explained.

Forest Utilization

In this regard, she stressed that «the Andalusian forest management model has focused on anticipation, intelligent planning, and integration of tools in its policies that increase the resilience of the Andalusian forest system to climate impacts.» Among these tools, she highlighted the promotion of sustainable forest use as a way to revive the economy of rural areas, reduce the risk of fires, and conserve biodiversity. «We want to give prominence to the forest as a renewable economic resource: as a generator of green employment, as a carbon sink, as a barrier against erosion, and as a fabric of territorial cohesion,» she stated.

She also recalled that this utilization includes not only the production of certified wood or cork, but also the compatibility with extensive livestock farming, which plays a fundamental role in fire prevention and population settlement in rural areas. «Herds are also allies of biodiversity: they maintain clearings, reduce vegetative fuel, and allow for multiple uses of the territory that make their maintenance viable,» she affirmed.

During the meeting, Catalina García also shared with Delgado Rosa one of the main climate innovation tools developed by the Andalusian Government in recent years: the Andalusian Catalog of Absorption Projects (CAPA). This catalog, a pioneer in Europe, identifies, records, and verifies public and private projects that generate natural carbon sinks, such as reforestation, habitat improvements, or actions in wetlands, allowing both the quantification of their impact and the promotion of emission offset mechanisms. «The CAPA allows progress towards climate neutrality without losing legal certainty and with transparency as an essential value,» she noted.

Furthermore, the minister presented to the Director of Biodiversity the climate scenario viewers developed by the Ministry within the Andalusian Environmental Portal. It is an open and dynamic tool, called CLIMATE Map, which allows any citizen, company, researcher, or administration to consult temperature and precipitation projections until the end of the century at a municipal scale, under different scenarios. «We have provided everyone with an interactive viewer that translates complex scientific data into useful information for decision-making, especially at the local level,» she stated.

Municipal Plans against Climate Change

In this line, she also wanted to highlight the work being done with Andalusian municipalities through the Municipal Plans against Climate Change, a requirement established in the 2018 Law that Andalusia has approached as an opportunity to foster local climate culture. «We are supporting our municipalities in this process so they can develop measures adapted to their reality, promoting energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, or the adaptation of public spaces to extreme heat,» she stated.

In connection with the above, she recalled that by 2025, it is expected that the 756 Andalusian municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants will have approved their respective Municipal Plans against Climate Change. «Municipalities are actively part of the climate response, and that is a very hopeful paradigm shift,» she added.

During the meeting, Catalina García reiterated Andalusia’s desire to continue being a reference region in the implementation of European environmental policies and in the deployment of innovative models that connect the climate challenge with social and economic sustainability. «Andalusia has shown that it is possible to combine conservation and development, and we want to continue moving in that direction with the support and collaboration of European institutions,» she affirmed.

The minister thanked Humberto Delgado Rosa for the sensitivity of the European Commission to the context of Mediterranean regions particularly affected by climate change, and reiterated the Junta’s willingness to continue sharing good practices, proposing solutions from the ground, and participating in European projects in the forestry, climate, and biodiversity sectors. «We are a land with great ecological diversity, but also with significant structural challenges. That is why our responses must be innovative, integrated, and designed from the local perspective,» she concluded.

Also present at the meeting, representing the Andalusian Government, were the Vice Minister of Sustainability and Environment, Sergio Arjona; the Government Delegate of the Junta de Andalucía in Brussels, Catalina de Miguel; and the Director General of Forest Policy and Biodiversity, Juan Ramón Pérez Valenzuela, among other attendees.