Environmentally, socially as well as economically very valuable.
We're talking about the dehesa. A unique ecosystem shared by Extremadura and the Alentejo of Portugal.
The dehesa is a very complex agro-ecosystem which permits various uses during the whole year,
from cork, which is generally the most characteristic product of this kind of agro-ecosystem,
Alentejo pork and other foods, to services like tourism and leisure.
This is the way to fight against depopulation and desertification of the interior of the peninsula.
This ecosystem is gravely threatened by the loss of vigour and death of its trees,
the fall in productivity and environmental value, climate change and rural depopulation.
That is why this scientific investigation was carried out.
Research on the dehesa has two components.
One of these is the trees, affected by defoliating pests,
and whose objective is to learn what pests are there and when they appear in the dehesa,
and the second component, about the risk from fire,
that is, studying the plant and bush cover to understand how it may relate to the fire risk.
The results obtained about defoliating pests have allowed us to see what the main ones present in the dehesa are,
and we've identified three, the most important of which is present everywhere.
As regards the fire risk, we've confirmed that there is poor management of the ground cover and therefore a high risk of fire.
These results are now being applied to the opportunities that arise and to measures to manage the dehesa.
Transfer to the business community is fundamental in this project.
In addition, they intend to carry on looking into the issue.
I think it's important that this project doesn't finish here,
in other words, that it's extended to other sources of finance and is continued for a few years,
because ecosystems are complex and so we need longer studies than RITECA's.
Because the dehesa is an essential part of the present and future of the Euroace region.