An operator works to remove the vegetation that appears on the edges of a path, next to rows of abandoned hazel trees, at the foot of the Mola de Colldejou. The objective is to thoroughly clean this path so that, if necessary, fire trucks can circulate smoothly. Also eliminate pine trees that gain ground on dried fruit trees. The mantra of the Consorci de la Serra de Llaberia is to do everything possible to avoid losing more crops, help farmers and shepherds so that they do not abandon the countryside and attract new ones. If we aspire to have options in the event of a fire, we must protect all the actors who contribute to maintaining the claimed mosaic landscape, in which the forest layers merge with vineyards, olive trees, almond trees, pastures and orchards. This is one of the challenges of the Consorci de la Serra de Llaberia, an entity that with few resources manages mountain areas between the regions of Baix Camp, Priorat and Ribera d’Ebre, in these times of extreme drought that further complicate the survival of agriculture.
Gemma Roca, forest engineer of the consortium, is clear that to protect the Sierra de Llaberia (Space of Natural Interest) and reduce the potential of a fire, the peasantry must be defended, a sort of figure in danger of extinction. “What we want is for people to make a living and not go away,” he says in Capçanes (Priorat), an area considered strategic for stopping fires, which is why the vineyard plays an essential role. Roca warns that in this enclave it has dropped from 2,950 cultivated hectares in 1956, to 1,070 in 1994, and 435 in 2022.
The holistic approach reserves a relevant role for everyone who lives in this space. To Antoni Bonfill, viticulturist and president of the ADF of Capçanes; to Marina Garzón and Cristian Gómez, shepherds, and to the workers of the consortium’s insertion company, in charge of cleaning the forest, among many other people.
The consortium was created in 2004 to preserve the natural heritage while promoting economic activity. Currently, the scope of action to prevent fires covers around 60,000 hectares between Tivissa, Vandellòs, Llaberia and Pradell de la Teixeta.
Marina and Cristian are two of the three pastors directly involved in the project. These days their flocks are sheltered in the same corral, in an uninhabited farmhouse within a 600-hectare farm, in Capçanes, property of the Generalitat, but they will soon be separated to graze in different areas. “The goats must adapt to this harsh territory, the forest is very thick, that is why the workers of the insertion company act first, they first do the mechanical work, remove the undergrowth, and then the animals enter to eat the vegetation that they remains,” says Roca.
“Before, forest management was carried out in all the towns; in all of them there were one or two herds and one or two bread ovens, which helped consume firewood. In Capçanes, they said that everything was cultivated with vineyards, olive trees, almond trees… In 1987 the last bakery closed,” says Bonfill, who takes care of 14 hectares of vines.
Marina Garzón’s goats and sheep also graze in some nearby vineyards. “In winter, for two or three months, when the leaves fall and before the vine sprouts, the goats come in and fertilize the fields with their defecation. The rest of the year we go to the forest,” he details. Cristian demands that “the role of extensive livestock farming be valued for the environmental services it provides.”
The consortium puts shepherds in contact with city councils and the ADF, whom it advises and helps to obtain subsidies and be able to pay for forest management work. In its desire to prevent more land from being lost, it connects people who want to dedicate themselves to agriculture with owners of Capçanes, Marçà, Colldejou, Pratdip, Tivisa, Torre de Fontaubella and La Serra d’Almos, municipalities in which it operates .
And the other link in the chain is the insertion company, which is monitored by the social entity Formació i Treball. A minimum of two vulnerable people are hired for a maximum period of three years to join a team that eliminates the vegetation that grows next to the roads and sponges the forests, explains Jordi Joan Margalef, its manager. It is the social services of the regional councils involved that refer the candidates to have an occupation and to do their bit against the fire.