Hardwood nobles, an interesting and future forest alternative

The leafy designated ‘noble' (walnuts, cerezos...), have a considerable interest in a lot of rural areas in Catalonia like activity and economic alternative, environingingmental and paisajística. The past 16 May celebrated a day in the installations of the Irta in Tower Marimon in which it treated on the perspectives and the handle of the crop of leafy noble for the wooden production of quality.

The wooden production of quality is a profitable activity, with good perspectives of future and high strategic interest. The wood of these species can reach upper prices to the 1000 /m3. The profitability (like Internal Tax of Performance) of a plantation of walnut or cerezo with a suitable management, can vary between the 4,62 and the 7,22 percent. Besides, the wooden demand of quality to European and world-wide level grows of a marked form from does decades, and expects that this tendency keep in the future.

In forest land, the hardwoods contribute to enrich landscapes and ecosystems, even being an alternative for use in high quality forest areas recently affected by a forest fire. At the same time, the quality of hardwood timber production is compatible with other productions in the same space and time, such as agroforestry systems, Silvopastoral, energy crops, plantations of double rotation, etc.

Some of the most commonly used species so far have been those in which there is experience in France, where are still much of the commercial materials. Include those of Walnut (especially the hybrid progenies MJ-209xRa and NG-23xRa), the clones of cherry and ash of large sheet materials. Given the particularities of the stations of Irta, is he is currently working on the development of plant materials from these and other species, with the aim of offering selections better adapted to the needs of the area, focusing on increasing tolerance to drought. Other species of hardwood alternatives are the serbal, the PEAR and the almezo.