Sprucing up of publicly-owned forests in Malaga's Sierra de las Nieves generates 562 tonnes of fuel for biomass boilers

The use of forest biomass as a source of renewable energy is part of the Malaga provincial authority's strategy in the fight against climate change. Biomass is provided through the cleaning work undertaken in four plots of public forest in the Sierra de las Nieves, which has resulted in the extraction of 562.57 tonnes of wood to be used for the generation of energy for heating public buildings.

Such initiatives have several other benefits: economic activity, job creation, the reduction of the carbon footprint derived from electricity consumption; fire prevention.

Within the framework of the Bio+a Málaga programme, the provincial authority worked on the cleaning and improvement of the forest in the area known as Las Palomas de El Burgo and El Pinar de Yunquera all throughout these past winter and spring. These forest remains are now left to dry - a process in which their weight will be reduced due to the loss of humidity - so that they can be chipped in the autumn.

The provincial institution has carried out the work of felling, removing, loading and transporting the wood to the treatment centre on a total of ten hectares in the Sierra de las Nieves - where there are 33,000 hectares of public woodland that require improvement or exploitation treatments to guarantee their stability and durability. This, together with the remaining work, requires an investment of 68,716.34 euros.

Deputy president of the infrastructure and sustainable territory department of the provincial authority Cristóbal Ortega said that the process has not been easy due to the steep slope of the terrain of El Pinar mountain.

However, the challenge is worth it, as it will "provide low-cost energy for the municipalities", among other benefits mentioned above.

The trees selected for felling have been marked by a forest ranger and, once harvested, were identified with a QR code that allows for precise tracking of their area of origin. This identification ensures full traceability from where they stand to the final destination.

This sustainable forest management programme includes the creation of the Bio+a Lab centre, which will function as a treatment centre and promote research, creation of green jobs, specific training in forestry, ecological and digital transition and, through all this - fight against depopulation. It will also develop training and entrepreneurship programmes to promote local dynamisation.

The project counts with the support of the biodiversity foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges, after being one of the 56 projects selected in Spain.

This project complements another action developed by the Malaga provincial authority - the heating of public buildings in small municipalities in the Sierra de las Nieves through biomass, which involves the installation of boilers and radiators in public buildings, allowing local councils to save an average of 65% on their energy bills. This initiative, worth 8.6 million euros, also helps in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.