Old Trees Friends
The AAV-ZZL concentrates on the geographical area of Navarra.
Our objectives are:
- To promote the conservation of old trees and dead wood in the forest.
- To spread the value of old trees and mature forests.
- To catalogue the old trees and woodlands in Navarra.
- To study the biodiversity related to the former trees.
¿Why are old trees important?
- Old trees- the living and the dead- are essential to keep an assorted biodiversity of flora and fauna which get fed from dead wood or take refuge in their cavities and fissures
(plants, fungus, insects, birds, bats, etc.)
- Old trees are part of our history, they live for human generations and in occasions they are associated to people or special facts.
- They have an aesthetic value in themselves and they take part of the ancestral countryside of our land.
- They make up a genetic reserve of ancient trees which may not be in younger trees.
¿Why are old trees threatened?
- Because they are cut to obtain wood, to avoid branches falling or to change the use of the ground.
- Because they are considered worthless so they are cut
- Because they are wrongly thought to lodge pests and they suffer from “healthy cuts”.
- Because of changes in the traditional way of forest management (for example giving up the standard practice of pollarding.
- Because the traditional ways of cattle raising have almost disappeared (there are hardly any pastureland)
- Because of the competition with other young trees which grow around.
Activities:
The association actions are especially directed to preserve trees and old woodlands
free of exploitation.
Among its activities we can also find:
- The organisation of talks, discussions and conferences in which the importance of old trees and their management are discussed.
- Excursions to the countryside to areas with a special value in mature forests.
- Cataloguing and making a data base of old trees and forest in Navarra.
- Popularising the importance of these trees among the technicians in charge of the forest management as well as among people in general.
The
association is open to any person who wants to collaborate with the protection
of its aims or who wants to participate in its activities. If you know a place
with old trees which is worth preserving or you are interested in this theme,
you can write to:
arbolesviejos@wanadoo.es
