Caracterización y evaluación de hábitats de interés comunitario en montes productores certificados en gestión forestal sostenible (estándar FSC) en la provincia de Huelvauna herramienta para la gestión y conservación de la biodiversidad

Laburpena

Biodiversity, sustainable development and nature conservation are fundamental issues today. AII companies, administrations, governments and international organizations take these issues into consideration. This study tries to create a methodology of evaluation and conservation of natural habitats in a forest matrix of eucalyptus crops (Euca/yptus sp.), To fulfill among other objectives of the company Ence Energy and Cellulose, to conserve biodiversity and be recognized that effort with obtaining FSC® sustainable forest certification (Forest Stewardship Council). This certification forms the basis of the ecosystem conservation and improvement strategy in the ENCE company. Sustainable forest management always requires a compromise between profitability and conservation, and in this fragile equilibrium, forest certification plays a key role. The methodology described plays a crucial role in demonstrating the positive impact of ENCE certified forest management for the conservation of biological diversity. To this end, a three-phase protocol has been developed (ldentification of High Conservation Values, Conservation Area Assessment and Monitoring Program), which provides clear criteria, compatible with FSC Principie 9, whose main objective is the development and the application of conservation principies. One of the main criteria for the classification of the habitat was the correspondence of natural habitats with those defined as Habitats of Community lnter est in Council Directive 92/43 / CEE of May 21, 1992 on the conservation of habitats natural and wild fauna and flora. The proposal for the use of HICs as an evaluation unit to assess the conservation status of a natural enclave, in this case in the Ence mountains, is based on the fact that HICs are the only formations that have a certain degree of protection . Based on the Habitat Directive, the European Commission submits the monitoring and periodic evaluation of the habitats included in the lists of the HICs to the different EU member states. For this reason, and using the same arguments, Ence, in accordance with FSC, uses the HICs, through their characterization and evaluation, to evaluate the conservation status of forests with forest exploitation, encompassing them in enclaves called High Conservation Values Areas (HCVA). This study demonstrates that an objective and reliable methodology of identification, evaluation and monitoring can be implemented, with a high degree of precision in the location and characterization of interesting and representative habitats in the region. Dueto its objectivity, this strategy can be easily applied to other European sustainable forest management sites and possibly to other countries outside the EU. This is why it is intended to develop a pioneering and effective tool to support forest management, which meets the requirements of the Sustainable Forest Certification. That allows knowing and applying a conservationist methodology in forestry forests, based on the evaluation of Community lnterest Habitats, as a management unit, identified in the zones defined as zones or High Conservation Value Forests. And above all, being a standardized and replicable methodology in other forest areas of Europe, where the Habitat Directive applies.