Oviedo (EFE).- The Ministry of Rural Affairs and Territorial Cohesion and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge will begin in the coming days hydrological-forest restoration actions in the areas most affected by the forest fires registered last month of April.
The actions will involve an investment of one million and will affect nearly 3,000 hectares and more than 50 kilometers of the road network, the Government of the Principality reported this Thursday in a statement.
The works, financed by the Government of Spain and executed under the technical direction of the council, are of vital importance to regenerate the vegetation and its biodiversity, and are interventions that must be carried out in the months following the fires, before the period winter, to avoid the dragging of soils.
In April, after the fires, the analysis process began and the areas most affected were defined using satellite images, drones and intense field work in which Natural Environment agents, engineers and technicians from the Government of Asturias participated.
The maps prepared from the results obtained have made it possible to concentrate efforts on the most affected areas and to establish the additional actions necessary for regeneration and to recover water and road infrastructures.
Tineo and Valdes
The first large sector on which these works will focus is the one formed by Tineo and Valdés, where most of the area affected by the fires was wooded.
The actions will involve an investment of 479,944 euros and will focus on the restoration of a public utility mount.
For this, the tree masses will be regenerated in those places where, due to the age of the existing trees, it is not feasible for it to occur naturally.
Burned specimens will also be removed, which will be used to cordon off and thus avoid erosive processes.
In young repopulated areas, it will be planted directly on the existing holes, interspersing native leafy species with the pre-existing ones, and on the roads that have been affected by landslides or terrified, the tracks will be conditioned to facilitate traffic.
Networks and Put
The second sector in which action will be taken is Redes and Ponga, spaces that are included in the Natura 2000 Network and share environmental protection figures, since both areas are a natural park and a biosphere reserve.
In this sector, the majority of areas of natural regeneration of broadleaved trees with scrub were affected.
The objectives, in addition to those proposed for Tineo and Valdés, also include work to recover troughs, pipes and water points that have been severely damaged and are crucial for the maintenance of extensive livestock.
In one of the most affected areas, the basin leading to the Tanes reservoir, in Caso, retention works will be carried out with fascines and cords to avoid dragging material into the water.
The council and the ministry have already carried out joint interventions in other areas. Thus, in 2021, they carried out an action in the Picos de Europa National Park, in Covadonga, after the fire on the San Ginés slope, an action that favored the rapid regeneration of the area, the Principality has pointed out. EFE