This morning, taking advantage of the nice day after months of bad weather, a group of ten volunteers has been working intensively on the preparation of one of our wood plots for replanting. It previously contained eucalyptus and now it is time to reforest the plot for growing a native forest. It already has some oaks that grew spontaneously and survived the eucalyptus felling, but we are going to add some chestnuts. We invite you and your family to come and plant your tree on March 29th.
Our plan is to create a dense band of woodland on the plot side bordering the road. When it grows, it will create enough shade to prevent weed proliferation, so helping prevent the spread of fires (as well as reduce their intensity) that could come from the road. And there’s no native tree better than the chestnut tree, as it has the largest leaves.
As we intend the chestnut trees to grow old and do not wish to cut them down, we’ve rejected the wood production varieties. We searched among the fruit production varieties for one that is adapted to our climate. Local wildlife will benefit from the chestnuts, and some other passers-by too. But being already at hard at work, we want to introduce mycorrhizae, as inoculating fungi on their roots will allow the chestnut trees to grow better. And eventually, edible mushrooms will sprout under them. There’s more to woods than wood: fruit, fungi, landscape…
We count on the generous collaboration of two local companies: Orballo Innovaciones Forestales, who provided the plants, and Fungicultura Muíños, who are in charge of mycorrhization. We hope that our plantation will serve as a clear example that makes the locals think about forestry alternatives to the plantation of fast-growing species for paper pulp. These companies can offer specialized guidance and provide quality products.
We encourage you to participate with your family. Your children will grow up as these chestnut trees get bigger, and over time you will be able to pick up chestnuts and mushrooms in the magosto (an outdoor celebration held in the autumn consisting of roasting chestnuts around a fire), enjoy a native forest and support our biodiversity preservation.
Date: March 29th.
Place: The meeting points are the outpatient clinic in Betanzos at 9.30 a.m. and Xora’s recreational area (Coirós) at 9.45 a.m. We expect to have finished by 2 p.m.
We advise you to send us an e-mail with your name and mobile phone number so that we can inform you in case bad weather makes us postpone the plantation (in section Contact you can find our e-mail address).
If you are willing to help spread the word, you can download the campaign poster and stick it on a visible place. Despite this morning intense work, we have not finished the wood plot preparation yet, so you can also help us next Sunday, March 16th.
