Cultural heritage, sustainable forest management and property in inland Spain

• Published in: Forest ecology and management Vol. 249; no. 1; pp. 80 - 90
• Main Author: Montiel Molina, Cristina
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 25.09.2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; collective action; Collective private property; community forestry; Corporation woodlands; cultural heritage; forest economics; Forest history; Forest management; Forest management. Stand types and stand dynamics. Silvicultural treatments. Tending of stands. Natural regeneration; forest ownership; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; history; land tenure; land use; Mediterranean forests; Ownership; private lands; Soria; Soria, Spain; Synecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Woodlands; Mediterranean region; Spain; Europe; Forest history; Mediterranean forests; Ownership; Collective private property; Corporation woodlands; Woodlands; Soria; Mediterranean vegetation; Forest management; Woodland
• ISSN: 0378-1127; 1872-7042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2007.05.031

Corporation woodlands are a cultural and natural heritage of traditional rural collectivism and of the land use system that prevailed in central Spain during the Middle Ages. Corporation woodlands have survived due to the permanence of traditional cultures in a depressed rural society, where social relationships at the local level have remained important. The collective private woodlands have substantial problems adapting to the current legal framework and the socio-political context. Nevertheless, as social-spatial structures where traditional knowledge and social participation endure, they are a very valuable asset for rural development in central Spain through sustainable forest management. The aim of this paper is to provide a territorial viewpoint and assessment of corporative woodlands in the province of Soria, which is one of the most extensively forested provinces in Spain and has a strong collective private forest heritage. Corporative woodlands now exist in a great variety of forms resulting from the origin of land tenure, land ownership and land use rights, as well as social conflicts linked to difficulties with their legal status and how they are organised. How these factors have conditioned current woodland heritage will be analysed.