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Diario Euskadi

Bizkaia Extends Eucalyptus Ban Until Forest Management Plans Are Developed

The General Assemblies of Bizkaia unanimously agree to prolong the moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations pending the creation of regional forest resource plans.

Generic image of a green eucalyptus leaf with a blurred forest background.
IA

Generic image of a green eucalyptus leaf with a blurred forest background.

The General Assemblies of Bizkaia have unanimously agreed to extend the moratorium on new eucalyptus plantations until regional forest resource management plans are developed, although reforestation will be permitted in former plantation areas.

The General Assemblies of Bizkaia, within the Natural Environment and Agriculture Commission, gave the green light on Tuesday to the new Forest Law, which is set to be definitively approved in a plenary session in Gernika. The regulation includes extending the ban on new eucalyptus plantations until the development of forest resource management plans (PORF). These plans will regulate the species permitted in each area and impose limitations on this genus or any other that poses a risk to the ecosystem.
This decision stems from a transactional amendment signed by EH Bildu, PNV, PSE, and Elkarrekin, also supported by the PP. By the end of last year, PNV, PSE, and EH Bildu had already approved extending the eucalyptus moratorium, enacted in 2022, until the new Law's approval. The original draft bill did not include a temporary extension of the ban nor did it specify limitations on forest species, leaving this decision to the Bizkaia Parliament.
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"The northern forestry sector cannot be allowed to move towards an economic monoculture of cellulose production."

Lorea Flores · Greenpeace Euskadi Coordinator
The PORF plans will be subject to general guidelines that must first be drafted. While they can be provisionally prepared by regions, they may cover one or more. The plan for Las Encartaciones is currently being drafted as an initial model. Until these plans are finalized, reforestation with eucalyptus species will only be permitted in clear-cut or fire-damaged plots that were previously occupied by eucalyptus for at least 50% of their area, though increasing the number of specimens will not be allowed.
The existing ban on new plantations is not yet visibly impacting the landscape; according to the 2024 forest balance, Bizkaia has 22,923 hectares of eucalyptus plantations: 10,838 of nitens (4,365 more than in 2019) and 11,189 of globulus (640 more than five years prior).
Greenpeace called for the moratorium to be extended until 2030, arguing that «the problems that led to the implementation of the temporary ban remain unresolved» and to prevent new processes of «eucalyptusization.» In June, 25 environmental organizations from across Spain, including Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and Euskadi —among them the EHNE Bizkaia union— signed a joint declaration also demanding the extension of this measure to the entire northern region.

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