Grup Boix has positively welcomed the new sustainable forest management strategy recently presented by the Government of Catalonia, which aims to strengthen the prevention of large-scale wildfires, adapt forests to climate change, and promote the bioeconomy as a structural policy for the country.
For the Berguedà-based company, specialised in forest management and wood transformation, the new roadmap represents an important step forward, as it places active forest management at the centre of the territorial and climate debate, in line with what the forestry sector has been calling for over many years.
“The prevention of large wildfires cannot rely solely on firefighting efforts. We need to act beforehand by managing forests, reducing forest fuel loads, and creating more resilient landscapes,” says Carles Martí, General Manager of Grup Boix. “The fact that the Government is now approaching this strategy from a structural perspective is positive news both for the sector and for the territory as a whole.”
A paradigm shift in forest policy
The new strategy presented by the Government includes an additional €36.8 million in forest investment and introduces measures aimed at strengthening wildfire prevention, adapting forests to climate change, professionalising the sector, and promoting the bioeconomy and the use of locally sourced timber.
Among the key measures is the definition of 14 wildfire containment corridors, designed to limit the spread of large fires between forest massifs and protect more than 850,000 people across over 2 million hectares. The strategy plans to intervene in more than 34,000 hectares of forest land, and priority actions have already begun in several areas across the territory.
The roadmap also reinforces Priority Protection Perimeters (PPP) as key instruments for preventing major wildfires, alongside the expansion of protection strips around residential areas and urban developments.
In addition, the Government is committed to modernising and professionalising the forestry sector through mechanisation, training, and the promotion of generational renewal, while also encouraging the use of certified locally sourced wood and forest bioproducts in construction and public works, thereby strengthening the connection between forest management, industry, and sustainable construction.
A long-standing demand from the sector
Grup Boix recalls that it had already warned months ago about the need to strengthen forest management in response to the growing wildfire risk and the accumulation of biomass in Catalan forests. In this regard, the company believes that the strategy presented by the Government reinforces a widely shared idea within the sector: an abandoned forest is a more vulnerable forest.
Catalonia is one of the European regions with the largest continuous forest area and, according to sector data, forest biomass is growing much faster than it is currently being managed. This accumulation of forest fuel, combined with the impact of the climate crisis and recurring drought episodes, increases the risk of extreme large-scale wildfires.
For Boix, sustainable forest management is not only a prevention tool, but also an opportunity for territorial development. “Managing forests also means generating economic activity, skilled employment, and industry linked to the territory. Locally sourced timber is part of the climate solution and of the country’s industrial future,” Martí points out.
Forest management, industry, and bioeconomy
With more than fifty years of experience, Grup Boix advocates for a vertically integrated model that connects forest management with industrial wood transformation and the production of sustainable construction solutions.
The company operates under PEFC and CatForest certifications, which guarantee traceability and responsible management of forest resources, and considers it particularly relevant that the Government’s new strategy also incorporates measures related to green public procurement and the promotion of forest bioproducts.
Rooted in the Berguedà region but with industrial and European ambitions, Grup Boix believes that the current context requires forest management to be understood as a country-wide policy, linked not only to wildfire prevention, but also to the energy transition, the bioeconomy, and territorial resilience in the face of climate change.
