Donostia with its Oberan reforestation plan joins the ‘Forest Archipelago’ [Archipielago de Bosques] project

05/07/2021

• The aim of the Ecodes Foundation initiative, in which Donostia/San Sebastián City Council is taking part, is to fight against climate change and foster the sustainable management of ecosystems.
• The work to recover the Donostia’s own habitat is part of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project, which has led to nearly 8,000 trees of different species being planted locally.

Donostia/San Sebastián City Council has joined the ‘Forest Archipelago [Archipiélago de Bosques], the project implemented by Ecodes Foundation in order to fight against climate change and foster the sustainable management of ecosystems.

The reforestation of Mount Oberan, a part of Donostia that is in the Aiako Harria Natural Park and  SAC (Special Area of Conservation) and one of the actions of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project, is continuing with this initiative.

A forest of Lawson cypress, an alien and invasive species, was felled as part of the focus on fostering biodiversity by using species native to each location. In early 2021, nearly 8,000 trees of different species, mainly oak (Quercus robur) along with typical secondary species, were planted to restore the typical habitat of this zone, the mixed oak grove.

The plan for the coming years is to monitor the work to check that most of the plants are growing properly.  There will a special focus on the invasive species that thrive on altered soil, or the new Lawson cypress shots that emerge due to the huge seed bank that probably exists there after the forest of that species growing there for decades.

After some years of maintenance and control, the oak grove habitat is expected to be sufficiently established and the plants will be large enough to allow the forest to evolve alone.

‘Forest Archipelago’, a collaborative strategy based on social cooperation

The ‘Forest Archipelago’ project relies on social cooperative and participation to implement a collaborative strategy and set up an archipelago bringing together the reforestation actions of social organisations, companies public administrations and individuals, generating a network of forests and fostering the sustainable management of ecosystems.