SPAIN AND HER SCANTY FORESTS 



BY NELSON COURTLANDT BROWN 



(PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR) 



ri~^HE casual traveler from this country in Spain is at 

 once impressed with the bold and barren character 

 of the landscape as presented to him at every turn, 

 and which immediately 

 strikes one as being almost 

 forbidding in its exceeding 

 austerity and barrenness, 

 especially to one accus- 

 tomed to seeing the land- 

 scape clothed, at least in 

 part, with a wooded cover. 

 The treelessness of a large 

 portion of the country is 

 perhaps the most outstand- 

 ing feature of the visitor's 

 first impression of the 

 "land of the Don." From 

 the viewpoint of topogra- 

 phy, Spain, next to Switz- 

 erland, is probably the most 

 mountainous country in all 

 Europe, and consists large- 

 ly of high plateaux about 

 2000 feet or more in eleva- 

 tion, interspersed with high 

 mountain ranges which also 

 surround the plateaux on all sides, and which drop off 

 with striking abruptness to the sea. It should, therefore, 

 under normal circumstances, be one of the most heavily 

 forested countries in 

 Europe, whereas it is 

 probably one of the 

 most scantily covered 

 sections to be found 

 anywhere, with the 

 possible exception of 

 China and Greece. One 

 naturally associates for- 

 ests with mountains, 

 and the effect upon one 

 accustomed to well for- 

 ested mountain slopes 

 is most impressive. In 

 many parts of Spain 

 one can frequently 

 travel for many miles 

 through the mountain- 

 ous districts without 

 seeing any trees at all. 

 It is very likely that 

 this condition has not 

 always been the case in 

 Spain, for there are 



SPANISH COLLEGE OF FORESTRY 



The Royal Spanish Forestry College at El Escorial, in the Guadarrama 

 Mountains, overlooking the high Castillian plateau. This is entirely 

 supported by the government and has been in existence for over 50 

 years. It is now used for a summer headquarters, the principal part 

 of the college year being offered in Madrid. 



A SPANISH FOREST 



A view in a Spanish forest. Although some of the stands arc much better than 

 shown here, this probably represents a typical forest of pine. Owing to the serious 

 fuel problem many immature and young growing forests have been cut for fuel 

 wood. With the importation of normal lumber supplies nearly eliminated almost every 

 native forest has been cut over in an effort to compensate for this shortage. Spain 

 has even sent cross ties and lumber to France for the allied armies during the war. 



evidences that the mountainous sections, at least, were 

 well forested at one time. It is very probable, however, 

 that ever since the time the stalwart Roman legions 



conquered the country be- 

 fore the time of Caesar, the 

 whole Iberian peninsula 

 has gradually lost most of 

 its forests through con- 

 tinuous warfare, political 

 dissensions, and internal 

 strife. After the Romans 

 conquered the country, it 

 was variously visited by the 

 Prankish, the Ostrogothic 

 and many other hordes 

 from the north and the 

 Moors from the south. 

 After the expulsion of the 

 Moors had been completed 

 by Ferdinand and Isabella, 

 just prior to the discovery 

 of this country by Colum- 

 bus in 1492, Spain rose to 

 its highest ascendency in 

 the sixteenth century under 

 I the powerful regimes of 

 Charles V and his successor, Henry II, but from that time 

 on gradually diminished in its international influence and 

 has neglected many of its most important internal problems 



and resources. Well 

 forested mountains 

 once covered with trees 

 were frequently left to 

 burn over from time to 

 time after cutting and 

 now serve only as in- 

 ferior pasture land. 



It was not until April 

 30, 1835, that any 

 material progress was 

 made in favor of the 

 preservation and the 

 extension of the Span- 

 ish forests. Spanish 

 forestry really dates 

 from that time. A 

 special forestry bureau 

 was established by the 

 king then, and a few 

 years later, in 1848, 

 there was inaugurated 

 a special Royal School 

 of Forestry, called in 



135 



