The flames continue to wreak havoc in Berrocal (Huelva) eighteen years after being extinguished. The century-old cork oak forest that burned in 2004 has not recovered. The mayor part of the reforestation that was done after the brutal fire started in Minas de Riotinto failed and today its effects are not only environmental but, above all, social and economic. The inhabitants of the town have been reduced by half, the cork harvest is less than a third of what it was and many of the projects that their neighbors wanted to start have been forgotten. “Life has completely changed. There was a sustenance, a remnant every year that brought a benefit and that has ended”, says its mayor, Francisca García Márquez. The images of the devastating fires of recent days in Spain have revived the drama of the people of Berrocal. The fire started on July 27 and left 29.687 hectares in a week, with Berrocal being the most devastated area. Figured as the largest fire of the century in Spain, but it has just been ash surpassed by the 31.000 hectares reduced to Losacio (Zamora). The Siguen Cortes de Pallás (Valencia), which in 2012 extended to 28.879 hectares and was recorded year after year in the Sierra de la Culebra (Zamora), finally reaching 24.737,95 hectares. "In every way you look at it, it was catastrophic and has left a mark on us that will not be erased," says the mayor. “Ours has been fatal”, sums up Juan Ramón García Bermejo, president of the San José cork cooperative. Before the fire, the 12,000 hectares of land they managed produced an average of 330,000 kilos of cork, which they later sold. Now the average production is less than a third, 103.000 kilos, and falling. 'La seca' is wreaking havoc among the cork oaks that survived the fire. "Last year we removed 46.000 kilos and this year it will be less," lamented García Bermejo. The replanted trees that have managed to prosper cannot be exploited for another decade either: they need at least 30 years to start producing. Before After The surroundings of Berrocal, after the fire and 18 years later Courtesy of Juan Romero Lost projects "It is a tragedy for people's lives, apart from the fact that it ends your livelihood," says Juan Romero, a resident of the town who created the Fuegos Nunca Más platform after the experience. He was part of the cooperative of small owners that produced cork. The kilometers of kilos that were extracted gave about 600.000 euros to leave, he recalled. And its members had started training courses to learn how to process the product: they wanted to transform them themselves into wine stoppers. The objective was to create employment and fix population. But the fire ended everything. In recent years, the cork harvest barely yields around 70.000 euros and the dream of becoming cork producers was put on hold. "With a thousand quintals that we take out, where are you going," he says. Before After The surroundings of Berrocal, after the fire and 18 years later Courtesy of Juan Romero The land, little by little, has been regenerating. The bushes and rockroses have grown and so have the trees. But they do not fill the emptiness of the centuries-old holm oaks and cork oaks. "The forest is still degraded," says Juan Romero. There were beekeepers who lost hives that year and the production of the following ones. There were centuries-old oaks, partridge farms that were lost and hunting reserves that went into decline. "The animal sector was exploited, with pigs, beekeeping... everything is depleted," says the mayor. It is just proof of a maxim repeated by the inhabitants of Berrocal: the forest generates employment and we must watch over it. Before After The surroundings of Berrocal, Neither after the fire and 18 years later Courtesy of Juan Romero will cover the reforestation. "60% of the repopulations failed," says Juan Romero, also a member of Ecologists in Action. The choice of the area to repopulate, the lack of monitoring of the project and the drought gave them the finishing touch, confirms García Márquez. Today, many residents of Berrocal have stopped working on their farms and, with this, cleaning work has also ceased, so the risk of fires is growing over the years. The aid that was given decades ago for this disappeared. "The families do not have any contribution to be able to make improvements and that the fire does not come and everything is carried away again," says the mayor. The aid claim is at all levels: European Union, Government and autonomous communities. Spain requires a forest layer. A decade of devastation in Valencia An experience that has taken place in the Valencian town of Cortes de Pallás. It was affected a decade ago by another of the great fires of this century in Spain, which devastated 28.879 hectares. After the fire, the rise in population registered in previous years changed its trend and went from more than a thousand inhabitants to 800. “In ten years the forest is not as it was, nor will it be in another ten. The forest was 70 years old”, says Javier Olivares, who managed a hunting ground in Andilla (Valencia). This area was also affected by a large fire that destroyed 20.065 hectares and that started only one day apart from the one in Cortes de Pallás. It was a dramatic summer reminiscent of the current one: “I don't want to watch the news because it's constant suffering. And we have a month to go before temperatures drop,” he says. The burned mountain of Andilla, Valencia, a decade ago Efe Those who live in areas that have suffered such a devastating fire know that recovery is difficult. The first years are dramatic, also for tourism: "No one wants to go see a holocaust," Olivares commented. A decade later, the feeling of abandonment and impotence survives. "People who come from outside see it as green and don't notice the difference, but those who regularly step on it know that it won't be the same again for a long time." There were hawthorns, junipers or gall oaks, as well as bushes such as rose hips or rosemary. His last are the ones that create the feeling that the field is sprouting, but the trees are slower. And that is also noticeable in the fauna. After the fire, hunting activity is prohibited pending two years. Then it slowly grows. “The fauna has no shelter, no food and it takes several years to recover. Now it is already being hunted, especially wild boar,” says Olivares. But small game hunting was concentrated for the moment in a few points. Even so, "the hunters invest to recover the land" even without help from the Administration, says Lorena Martínez Frígols; president of the federation of community hunters. They put feeders, drinkers or rafts to offer resources to the fauna when these are scarce, either after a fire or in summer. Post-fire management “What cannot be is that there is a fire and everything burns. The Administration has to clean up the mountain,” Olivares complains. Thus, mosaic landscaping that breaks the continuity of the forest and prevents excess biomass is an option that will have more value for the management of the land of our land, explained the professor of Ecology at the University of Barcelona and CREAF researcher, Santiago. Saturday. Related News standard No The Government reactivates itself against the fire after leaving the strategy dormant for two years Érika Montañés standard No The WHO estimates 1.700 deaths in Spain and Portugal this year due to a heat wave Although “the same recipe cannot be applied in all parts”, it is a priority that the soil recovers organic matter, explained Sabaté. From there, you have to assess each case. Because the Mediterranean forest is adapted to survive fire: there are species, such as the Aleppo pine, whose seeds are protected; or the cork oak, which can sprout from the stump. For this reason, some ecosystems can regenerate on their own and only need support work for rapid recovery, without the need for reforestation. Although, in others, it is planned so that there is a diversity of species, including those that are more resistant to climatic climate. "We have a history on the ground, but the environmental conditions are different," says Sabaté. It is about preventing uncontrolled fires from endangering human lives, the environment and their coexistence. As the mayor of Berrocal assures: “There is a lot of talk about rural Spain, but if there is no future in the forests, what future is there in the towns?
