The interaction between nature and human beings leads us to a constant transformation of the landscape. When you arrive in Portomarín you realize how people are able to modify landscapes, towns and stories, and Portomarín has its own. Discover it at this stop!
Forestry activity produces incalculable goods for society, such as the improvement of air and water quality, soil stability or biodiversity, among many others. Damage to the forest can require years and even centuries to be repaired, as it happens with forest fires.
Climate change is one of the influencing factors in forest fires, but the abandonment of the territory and therefore the poor management of the forest are determining factors. For this reason, promoting and strengthening rural development, adding value to natural resources and encouraging neighbouring forest communities and private owners for their sustainable use and exploitation, is one of the objectives of PEFC forest certification.
Who owns the forest? Neighbourhood forests in Portomarín
Galicia is without a doubt, the largest forestry power in Spain and one of the most important in Europe.
The total area of Galicia is 2,957,447 ha, of which 2,030,681 ha are classified as forestry use. 69% of the forest area, 1,424,094.17 ha, is wooded area, so we could say that half of Galicia is wooded.
Who owns the forest?
97% of forest property in Galicia is private, 64% in the hands of individuals and the remaining 33% belong to Neighbourhood Forest Communities in Common Hand (CMVMC). Public forests represent only 3% of the forest area.
The number of private owners exceeds 650,000, with an average area of approximately 2-3 hectares fragmented into different plots, which complicates professional management.
The average area of neighbouring forests is 220 ha, which allows better planning and greater diversification of production and uses: wood, pasture, firewood, mushrooms, honey, recreation, hunting, etc. Nowadays, Department of Rural Environment has 3,326 communities in its registry, though its distribution is not homogeneous in the 4 Galician provinces. Ourense is the province with the largest number and area of neighbouring forests, 39.2%, and A Coruña is the one with the lowest specific weight in relation to this type of property, representing only 9.1%.
The province of Lugo occupies the second place in number of neighbouring forests in common hands, with a total area of 220,566 ha. Of the 19 Forest Districts into which the Galician territory is subdivided, Portomarín is framed in District IX, this being the first in number of neighbouring forests in the province of Lugo and the third in Galicia, though the surface of its mountains is less on average, about 160ha per forest.
Portomarín is one of the municipalities of the Camino Francés that has the largest number of local forests, and many of them have already joined the PEFC Forest Certification, therefore making their good management visible and providing the guarantee of the sustainability of their products.
How is sustainable forest management certified?
The PEFC forestry certification is perfectly adapted to the owners of small forest areas, as well as familiar properties, making accessible the certification for everyone, taking into account the special needs, the cost and the operational structures of the private owners, families and local communities.
Certificación adaptada ás pequenas superficies
The types of grouped certifications, Regional or Associations, consider the joining of several owners in the same certificate, making it attainable and practical.
From the 57.000 owners and certified forest agents in Spain, more than 44.000 are Galician.
5 STEPS TO CERTIFY YOUR FOREST
1. Have a Management plan and it should be approved by the appropriate authority or the suitable professional association.
The management plan is a document which establishes the forest management individually or collectively.
2. Get a Sustainable Forestry management according the National law UNE 162.002 about the criteria and indicators of sustainable forestry management.
The law UNE 162.002 is national, it is adapted to the territorial reality of Spanish forests and it considers their multipurpose. It includes several indicators which are included in the 6 criteria of sustainability: biodiversity, productive functions, mitigation of climate change, health and vitality of the forests, protective functions of the forests and socioeconomic aspects.
3. Apply for your certificate.
3.1 Apply for joining an existing certificate.
You should know the requirements, as well as the rights and obligations to join a group or regional certificate. 70% of the certified national area is part of a regional certificate, and more than 75% of the forestry experts and owners are part of a group certificate.
3.2 Apply for a sustainable forestry management certificate.
If you haven’t joined an existing certificate, you can create a new applicant entity and get your own certificate, which can be individual, collective or regional.
4. Collaborate with auditing processes.
5. Get the certificate of Sustainable Forestry Management and the PEFC trademark licence.
After the auditing process, the certification entity provides with the Sustainable Forestry Management Certificate to the applying entity in the pertinent modality. Finally, PEFC Spain or PEFC Galicia (our Region) gives a trademark licence with a specific number which is associated to the Sustainable Forestry Management Certificate given by the certification entity.
Forest Fires
In Spain, fire destroys thousands of hectares of forest every year, and Galicia is no exception.
The evolution of the area burned and the number of fires per year in recent decades has been variable, but according to the data recorded by the Department of Rural Environment, different stages could be established in relation to the number of fires, affected areas and advances in the means of extinction, although this does not mean that they are closely related because the fires depend on many more variables than the weather of each year, since a very high percentage of incidents are due to a clear intentionality.
One could speak of a first stage that would covered a period of about 15 years, between 1976 and 1990, in which only 3 years the area burned did not reach 30,000 ha, in 7 it exceeded 60,000 ha and the historical maximum was reached in the year 1989, with almost 200,000 ha affected. This year was a turning point, and from 1990 a specific operation was started to fight against forest fires in Galicia.
Between 1991-2006, the data related to the area burned was reduced, reaching the maximum peak in 2006, with more than 60,000 ha burned. Unlike the previous stage, the number of incidents by number of fires increased significantly, possibly due to the improvement of the information, communication and data collection systems, in the evolution and improvement of the fire-fighting device added to many other factors and causalities of the incidents.
From 2007 to 2021, there was a general decrease in the averages of both the area burned, some 16,200 hectares per year, and the number of fires, over 2,800 per year, except in 2011 and 2017, when more than 30,000 hectares were burned. In this period there is a slight increase in the ratio of burned wooded area with respect to the total.
What is large forest fires? Are those fires that exceed 500 ha of affected area and that, due to their characteristics and conditions, influence highly the operation of the extinguishing device, mainly due to the large amount of resources and time required to deal with them.
In the last 3 decades, there have been 160 large fires in Galicia, half in the province of Ourense. Although Pontevedra and A Coruña have also been highly affected, especially in 2006, when large fires occurred simultaneously in both provinces.
A sixth generation fire refers to those fires that are able of modifying the meteorology of the place where they are located, creating their own atmosphere. They have a high destructive capacity as they release a big amount of energy, with a high speed of propagation and convective columns (rising clouds) that give rise to pyrocumulus that predetermine the evolution of the fire.
These fires have a continuous air circulation, causing the fire to continuously feedback on oxygen, even causing what we call fire storms, which generate secondary sources.
The first fire of this kind in Europe is possibly one of those that affected Portugal in 2017, in which more than 60 people lost their lives and nearly 500,000 hectares were burned.
This kind of fire is unapproachable by the extinguishing teams due to its extreme danger, therefore, the extinguishing work must be carried out beforehand so that the fire does not happen or, in any case, that the damage it causes is minor.
Climate change is one of the factors that influence forest fires, but the leaving of the territory and therefore the poor management of the forest, may be more determining factors.
It is necessary to have a forest planning so that the forest masses are well managed. Being able to take advantage of resources such as the topography of the place to establish natural firebreaks or give discontinuity to the type of vegetation can be decisive when dealing with a fire.
The introduction of silvo pastoreo (grazing briars), in many cases, is being fundamental for the control of vegetation and forest biomass. Horses, goats, cows… are key in fire prevention as a complementary measure to forestry activities, biomass strips and the creation of firebreaks.
What to know?
The interaction between nature and human beings leads us to a constant transformation of the landscape. Understanding the landscape allows us to get closer to the communities that inhabit it.
Portomarín was born next to a Roman bridge over the River Miño, the longest river in Galicia, and the largest after receiving the waters of its main tributary, the Sil.
In 1946 the town of Portomarín was declared Historic Artistic Site.
The archaeological remains that spread throughout the municipality, in the form of “medorras” (burial chambers) and “castros” (forts), such as the Castro de Castromaior, which we will talk about at this stop, reveal the importance that the municipality had historically and today.
The old Portomarín was made up of two neighbourhoods, separated by the Miño River. The Roman bridge built in the 2nd century joined the two areas of the town, being used by the pilgrims on their way to Santiago, becoming an outstanding enclave of the Camino as it was one of the few bridges that allowed crossing the Miño in the past.
When the Belesar reservoir was built in 1962, the new Portomarín moved to the right bank of the Miño River, in the highlands of Monte do Cristo. Before the waters of the Miño completely flooded the town, the most important buildings were moved stone by stone for reconstruction. The stones were numbered and assembled to their current location, such as the churches of San Nicolás and San Pedro or some “pazos” (country houses) such as Conde da Maza, Pazo dos Pimentales or Berbetoros.
Old Portomarín lays under the waters of the Belesar reservoir. Above all, in summer, when the water level drops, you can see the remains of the old buildings, the embankment and the primitive bridge.
In the current Portomarín you can walk through its cobblestone streets or under the arcades that give it a special charm.
The municipality has many monuments and outstanding places that you can visit.
STAIRCASE OF PORTOMARÍN or STAIRCASE OF CAPELA DAS NEVES
Every pilgrim who arrives in Portomarín doing the Camino de Santiago Francés, passes through the Staircase. It is situated at the entrance of the town, once you cross the bridge over the reservoir, you will find some stairs made of granite, which help to save the gap between the reservoir area and the town centre. The Stairway of Portomarín, which will lead you to the chapel of the Virgen de las Nieves, located in an arch of the old medieval bridge. At the top of the staircase you can enjoy beautiful views of the reservoir.
PARISH CHURCH OF SAN NICOLAO
What is most surprising is its appearance of a military fortress, with a large rose window with stained glass windows on its facade, and on the main door you can see the 24 elders of the Apocalypse playing their instruments. It was made by one of Master Mateo’s collaborators at the beginning of the 13th century.
Other points of interest in Portomarín are the CHURCH OF SAN PEDRO, the MIÑO BRIDGE, the Town Hall of Portomarín (PAZO DEL CONDE DE LA MAZA), PAZO DE BERBETOROS (or Casa de la Marquesa), or the MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF THE MINIATURE AUTOMOTIVE.
The municipality also has facilities dedicated to nautical activities; sailing and canoeing, it even offers the possibility of taking a catamaran tour through the waters of the Belesar reservoir, within the tourist routes of the Ribeira Sacra.
Castro de Castromaior (fort)
Just 10 kilometres from Portomarín, you can see the Castro de Castromaior on an elevation. Visiting this archaeological complex does not suppose any detour or diversion on your way.
It is one of the most important Iron Age archaeological sites in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
With an approximate surface of 5 hectares, and a good state of conservation, we can observe a higher main enclosure, almost circular, to which another four are joined to the East and one more to the West, forming successive platforms, all of them clearly delimited by lines of walls, earth defenses with palisades and moats that surround each enclosure giving the town a fortified appearance. The houses are not circular, but rectangular with rounded corners, which implies a certain degree of romanization.
In 1992 it was catalogued and included in the General Inventory of Archaeological Sites of Galicia, beginning in 2006 the surface prospecting work and archaeological surveys to determine the potential of the site. In later years, they continued with the work to define the settlement and specify its chronology. In 2010 it is declared “ Bien de Interés Cultural” (BIC) (Asset of Cultural interest ).
Right on the edge of the Camino, you can find the Interpretation Centre inaugurated at the beginning of 2022.
The Role of PEFC
Forest management is a long-term process, and the results of good practice are often only appreciated after decades. The PEFC forest certification values the sustainable forest management carried out by owners and managers, being endorsed by an independent third party.
Sustainable Forest Management entails environmental advantages such as fire and pest risk reduction, conservation of biodiversity and resources such as water and soil.
An adequate Forest Management provides economic benefits derived from the improvement of productivity and the rationalization of the harvesting process. The forests, not only produces wood, but also grazing, resins, cork, fruits, mushrooms, honey, firewood; all these products turn into benefits for people, generation of employment and, in the end, contribute to rural development.
