In July 2012, the Valencian Community suffered a large forest fire that started in Cortés de Pallás due to a human negligence. The strong wind spread the flames to 13 municipalities with great virulence affecting three protected areas ("LIC Sierras de Martés y el Ave", "LIC Muela de Cortes y Caroig" and "ZEPA Sierra de Martés-Muela de Cortes"). A total of 29,752 hectares were burnt, including very sensitive areas for endangered species such as the imperial eagle and the peregrine falcon, and thousands of people were evacuated. So far it is considered the most important forest fire of the century in Spain.  

The main objective of the actions carried out the last 3 years is moving towards a mosaic landscape that is more resilient and biodiverse, reducing the spread and severity of new fires. The orography, aspect, and historic land use in some sections confer to these areas very high fuel accumulation, especially necromass from species like gorse and rockroses, very frequent in areas affected by at least two fires in the last decades. Because of that, the creation of this mosaic landscape and the modification of vegetation structure and composition can play a very important role in the behavior of a new fire in the medium term. Nowadays, 75 ha are in restoration and, at least we will reach a total of 125 ha in the next 2 years.

These actions included the thinning and clearing of Aleppo pine forests, the recovery of the oak forest, creation of grasslands for habitat and grazing recovery, restoration of disused cultivation areas, and planting aromatic species to enhance natural pollination and biodiversity in this area.

WWF España - Cortes de Pallás

Profundidad de la capa freática

Evapotranspiración anual total