Reforestation is taking a leading role in Spain's environmental restoration and climate change plans. Both public administrations and private entities and social groups are promoting different initiatives to plant trees, restore native forest cover, and raise awareness about the ecosystem benefits that forests provide, from improving air quality to protecting soil from erosion. These efforts not only aim to increase hectares of vegetation, but also foster a closer relationship between citizens and nature, especially in urban and rural areas affected by environmental degradation.
In Andalusia, the network of public nurseries plays an essential role in supplying native plant species adapted to multiple habitats. The San Jerónimo nursery in Seville is one of the largest in the region, producing more than 500.000 trees annually for both forest restoration and social and educational projects. In the 2024-2025 season, the center generated 514.700 plants, while the entire Andalusian nursery network has reached a production of 3,3 million trees since 2019. Some of these plants have been used to restore emblematic areas, such as the Doñana Natural Area, affected by forest fires in 2017. Investments exceed €8 million through 2029, which will allow for the continued production of millions of trees and the modernization of facilities to increase efficiency and positively impact the environment.
Urban and educational projects: the example of Malaga and Lanzarote
The urban and peri-urban areas are also the scene of notable reforestation strategies. Málaga City Council has launched a plan to restore nearly thirty forest parks and green routes in different districts of the city, including areas such as Monte Victoria, Gibralfaro, Monte San Antón, and La Virreina. The contract, with a budget of one million euros and a duration of four years, covers everything from land preparation to planting, protection, and irrigation of plant species, with the goal of creating a tree cover that improve ecological diversity, increase carbon dioxide uptake and restore degraded Mediterranean areas. Furthermore, it seeks combat erosion and promote the recharge of aquifers thanks to the increase in vegetation.
On the islands, environmental awareness initiatives such as the Ecopilas Forest project in Lanzarote are bringing landscape restoration closer to young people. Through campaigns that combine battery recycling with the planting of native flora and traditional fruit trees, Hundreds of schoolchildren participate each year in planting days and workshops on local biodiversity.In the 2024/2025 edition alone, more than forty educational centers have participated in the restoration of emblematic spaces such as the Casa Peraza, also contributing to the cumulative collection of more than 19.000 kilos of batteries. Thanks to the support of public entities and funding linked to waste collection, the project has already carried out five reforestation actions in different island locations. promoting environmental education and the real improvement of natural environments.
Responsible reforestation: scientific and social criteria
The effectiveness of reforestation depends on an appropriate selection of areas and species, as well as the integration of ecological, social and climatic criteria. A recent report published in the journal Nature Communications warns that Only a small fraction of the Earth's surface is truly suitable for climate-sensitive reforestation.Factors such as the protection of unique ecosystems (grasslands or savannas), the impact on the Earth's albedo and potential land use conflicts make it necessary refine maps and prioritize locations for planting trees does not result in harm to biodiversity or local communities.
This new approach, driven by researchers at The Nature Conservancy, estimates that around 195 million hectares worldwide are considered optimal for forest restoration without affecting populations or faunaThe restoration of these areas could absorb more than 2.000 billion tons of COâ‚‚ per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of the European Union. Along with the planting of new trees, the importance of protecting existing forests is highlighted and combine reforestation with energy transition and industrial decarbonization policies.
Municipal initiatives and alliances: examples from across the country
Numerous municipalities have launched large-scale projects to restore degraded areas and transform them into public forests. This is the case in the municipality of Rivas, which after 12 years of work has completed the so-called Scania Forest, where nearly 45.000 trees have been planted on 81 hectares next to the Valencia highway, part of the Southeast Regional Park. The project, coordinated by the municipal company Rivamadrid and developed with the support of local workers, has involved both the expropriation of private land and citizen participation. Species such as pines, almond trees, olive trees, and holm oaks stand out, selected with the approval of park technicians to promote the diversity and ecological value of the environment.
Other types of campaigns, such as the one promoted by the Ecopilas Foundation, demonstrate the growing public-private cooperation and the link between recycling and environmental restoration in school settings. Even large companies and insurance companies have launched reforestation challenges, such as the one launched by Bupa Global Latin America, which finances the planting of tens of thousands of trees in the region through collective actions linked to health and sustainable habits.
Overall, reforestation in Spain is evolving towards a more comprehensive vision, in which the production of native plants, the high-performance restoration of urban and rural forests, the and the social involvement combine to multiply long-term environmental, climate and educational benefits.
