Traditional systems of forest ordination in the center of the basin of the Duero

Abstract

The historical documentation contributes enough data to understand the traditional management of our woodlands. This work studies a wide space of the interior of Castilla y León, the calcareous plateaus, characterized traditionally by the presence of wide sectors with «encina» (Quercus ilex subsp. ballota) and «quejigo» (Quercus faginea subsp. faginea), and by the historical permanency of three transcendent uses in the life of the woodlands: the firewood, the charcoal and the grass. This documentation allows, first, to verify the existence of some bases of the forest treatment and management in the administration of these woodlands and, second, of a forest planning in short and long term.