Forest Resource
Overview
Spain forms the major part of the Iberian Peninsula, with Portugal to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the north-west, France to the north-east and the Mediterranean to the east and south. There are large areas of plains, as well as hills and mountains and, apart from the northern part along the Atlantic Ocean, which is the most fertile, climatic conditions are Mediterranean with low rainfall and hot, dry summers. Forest and other wooded land accounts for about half the land area, but only half of it is classified as forest proper, the rest being Mediterranean scrub. Three quarters of the forest is available for wood supply; much of the rest is not available for reasons of conservation and protection. Plantations make up one seventh of the forest, many of them established for soil protection purposes but not those in the northern coastal region, which are for wood production. The remaining forest is classed as semi-natural; there are no areas undisturbed by man. The area of forest has been expanding strongly, despite setbacks due to forest fires. Coniferous species make up three fifths of the growing stock volume, the main volume being maritime and radiata pine in the northern coastal region, where increment is high and a large part of total fellings occurs. Elsewhere Scots and Aleppo pine are common. The main broadleaved species are oaks, beech, poplars, chestnut and eucalyptus. More than four fifths of forest is privately owned, mostly in small parcels by a large number of individuals. Most of the publicly owned forest is owned by municipalities. Soil protection is a major forest function, while provision of non-wood products, including cork, resin, fodder, game meat, and so on, is also of importance, as are values for landscape, tourism and recreation.
Forest Types
Geographic Description
The Kingdom of Spain, located in south-western Europe, occupies the greater part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bounded on the north by the Bay of Biscay, France, and Andorra; on the east by the Mediterranean Sea; on the south by the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; and on the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. The British dependency of Gibraltar is in the extreme south. The Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa are provinces of Spain. Also, Spain administers two small exclaves in Morocco-Ceuta and Melilla-as well as three island groups near Africa-Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and the Alhucemas and Chafarinas islands. The area of Spain, including the African and insular territories, is 505 960 km2.
Mountains extend across northern Spain from the Atlantic Ocean almost to the Mediterranean Coast. These begin with the mountains of Galicia in the west, extend through the Cantabrian Mountains in the central area to the Pyrenees Mountains in the east, which separate Spain from France. The mountains rise sharply from the sea along most of the Atlantic coast.
The Ebro Basin encompasses the broad plains that extend along the Ebro River in north-eastern Spain. The Ebro, one of Spain’s longest rivers, flows 909 km from the northern mountains to the Mediterranean Sea.
Fertile plains stretch along Spain’s entire Mediterranean coast, broken by occasional hills.
The Meseta Central is a huge, dry plateau that covers most of central Spain. It slopes downward gradually from north to south and from east to west, and has an average elevation of about 600 m. It is broken by hills and low mountains, including the Sierra de Guadarrama, the Sierra de Gredos, and the Montes de Toledo. Higher mountains rise on the north, east, and south. Mainland Spain’s highest peak, 3,478-meter Mulhacen, stands in the Sierra Nevada range on the southern edge of the region. Most of Spain’s major rivers originate in the Meseta. The Tagus (Tajo) flows 1,007 km through Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean while the Guadalquivir flows 640 km to the Atlantic Ocean. Other rivers include the Duero (Douro), Miño and Guadiana, all of which flow to the west through Portugal. The Guadalquivir Basin lies in south-western Spain along the Guadalquivir River.
Ecological Zones
Forest Industry
The Balearic Islands lie from about 80 to 240 km east of mainland Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Five major islands and many smaller ones make up the group. The three largest islands, in order of size, are Majorca, Minorca, and Ibiza. Majorca is a fertile island with a low mountain range along its north-west coast. Plains stretch from the mountains to hills on the south-east coast. Minorca is mostly flat, with wooded hills in the centre. Ibiza is hilly. Both smaller islands are much less fertile than Majorca.
The Canary Islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean about 96 to 432 km off the north-west coast of Africa. They include seven major islands. The largest are, in order of size, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, and Gran Canaria. Pico de Teide, Spain’s highest mountain, rises 3 718 meters in the centre of Tenerife. Gran Canaria has central mountains and rich valleys. Fuerteventura is flatter, drier, and less populated than Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
The climate of Spain is marked by extremes of temperature and, except in the north, generally low rainfall. The Meseta and other inland regions have dry, sunny weather throughout the year with hot summers and cold winters. The average temperature for some areas rises above 27° C in July, the hottest month and may fall below -1° C in January, the coldest. Precipitation averages about 600 mm, occurring as snow on the higher peaks during the winter.
Mild, rainy winters with hot, dry, sunny summers are characteristic of the coastal plain and the Balearic Islands. January temperatures are rarely below 4° C, rising to a July average of 27° C. The Canary Islands also have mild to warm temperatures all year.
On the other hand, winds off the Atlantic Ocean bring mild but wet weather to the northern mountains. In January, the average temperature rarely falls below 4° C and the average July temperature seldom rises above 21° C. Deep snow can occur in the mountains
Forest Map
