Fire prevention or wine growing? Galician town opts for both

This will be achieved with the introduction of traditional agroforestry methods to arranging the land

The general director of the Galician Rural Development Agency, Inés Santé, held a meeting with the mayor of the small town of A Arnoia, Rodrigo Aparicio, in which the consolidation of two agroforestry estates in the municipality was evaluated. Said estates, known locally as poligonos agroforestales, have been gradually introduced in the northwestern Spanish region since last year as a way of turning to traditional and sustainable methods in the management of arable lands.

What is more, this approach actually seeks to restore abandoned agricultural land back to productive usage. In the case of A Arnoia (located not far from the Portuguese border), this will mean the reintroduction of viticulture and the restoration of the ancient wine-producing traditions in that region. The specific arrangement of the crops and plants is also planned with a view towards preventing forest fires.

Multi-functional land utilization

Two such ‘polygons’ would be created on the municipal territory order to provide new solutions for the fight against forest fires and for the recovery and enhancement of the land through the cultivation of vineyards since this is an area covered by the Denomination of Origin of Ribeiro wine.

One of the estates would be located within mountains that are owned by the town hall and would have an area of ​​around 60 hectares that would be used as a tool to continue increasing the production of quality wine in Galicia. The productive orientation of the other polygon is currently being studied, although the vineyard planting will also be taken into account given the value of the wine heritage of the area.

These initiatives are part of the Galician Agricultural Land Recovery Law, which is committed to the production of abandoned and underused lands and the generation of economic activity, while also creating natural fire barriers. In this way, the Government of Galicia seeks to increase the productive value of the lands of A Arnoia and hopefully also reverse rural depopulation.