Penedo Model-Village, instrument to fight against depopulation against climate change

By project Down to Earth

Published on 28 April 2024

Spain

Galicia

About this good practice

Land abandonment is an increasingly phenomenon in Galicia, with total land abandoned nearly matching the cultivated area. This fact, together with the new scenario of climate change,causes a growing risk of fires.

In addition, many of the lands have good agronomic conditions, being therefore an asset capable of supplying quality food nearby. It is also an opportunity to generate employment, especially among young people.

The causes of land abandonment are aggravated in Galicia due to difficulties in access to land, together with high fragmentation and a high number of owners, many of whom no longer live in the area, making land transfers difficult.

One of the areas with the highest abandonment and with the highest risk of fires is the Council of Boborás, where the village of Penedo is located.

In 2021, after a reflection process, Galicia´s Government approved a Law for Recovery Agrarian Land, where it created different tools (Model Villages; Agroforestry Polygons, etc.) to mobilize land for people who would like to work on it.

Model Villages arise to revitalize abandoned villages, working together with the municipalities, for recovering the productive strip around them, so that new farmers can work it.

The property is maintained and a income proportional to the surface is distributed (using the Galicia Bank Land), although the plots are used as a whole. This has made it possible to create new farmers, revitalize the villages and recovering traditional crops.

Resources needed

Technical staff from Galician Agency, and other specialized subcontractors.

Investments to establish extensive pig farm for total amount 82.695€. (livestock closures €61.300; management facilities €21.395); coming from funds from the Regional Government to implement Land Recovery Law.

Evidence of success

It has allowed recovery 23,41 hectares of abandoned land that is now back into productive use. It has been possible to reduce the biomass likely to cause or transmit these fires in the village. Since the implementation of project, there have been no new forest fires in the area.
It has created direct employment in farming. It has led the generation of income for landowners through the leasing of plots.
Many municipalities in Galicia started the procedures to declare additional model villages.

Potential for learning or transfer

The main difficulty for the transferability of this initiative is that it requires a legal framework that allows for the the Administration with competences in Rural Development to identify a village to start the work, covering the whole process.

The action methodology could be replicated in other territories with similar problems, achieving good results.

The proposed intervention methodology can be perfectly transferred to other regions facing similar challenges such as land abandonment, aging population, lack of economic dynamism, as well as high fragmentation of land ownership.

All these factors, combined with the new scenario of global warming, are potential vectors of forest fires, so working on the underlying problems behind the abandonment of the rural areas is a sound strategy to adapt to environmental risks.

Study visits to this project have already been successfully organised.

Visits are also warmly welcome by the inhabitants of the village.