Growing a Forest: Face Challenges. GreenBarriers Report #2

This is the second report of the GreenBarriers project, where we share what has happened over the last two months.

Riparian forest development

Spring arrived at Almazarán. The planted trees awoke in their new home, discovering the place where they will spend the rest of their lives. The site has welcomed the trees well. Almost all have sprouted successfully, although we will carry out a quantitative assessment after the summer to determine the final mortality rate.

Regenerative Challenges

Our approach to land stewardship involves not only initiating regeneration but also protecting it from threats. Several situations required our intervention.

Despite repeatedly informing the local shepherd that neither we nor the Segura river basin authority allowed livestock onto these lands, the goats entered without permission, damaging partially both the fruit trees on our property and the riparian restoration area. A dead goat was even abandoned on site.

Seedling and tree shelter pulled out.

We reported the incident to SEPRONA (Environmental Spanish Police) because many young trees had been damaged, although we were told it would be difficult to identify the shepherd.

We hope this encourages greater respect in the future. We support actively coordinated regenerative grazing so goats can graze where they are genuinely beneficial.

We also observed people collecting mushrooms in plastic bags, a practice prohibited by regional environmental regulations because it prevents spores from dispersing naturally and even accelerates mushroom deterioration, so can became toxic.We aim to restore not only ecosystems but also traditional regenerative practices, so we are considering installing information panels.

People collecting morel mushrooms (Morchella esculenta).

Disturbing for Regeneration

Initiating regeneration sometimes requires disturbing the ecosystem. After the severe DANA flood, several actions required an excavator:

• Recover the terraces for agriculture, restoring the traditional irrigation system that was damaged by the DANA, that also deposed a lot of sediments.

• Reopen the traditional path leading to our forest plots to facilitate access for both us and forest firefighters in the event of a fire.

• To find a use for the thousands of metric tons of firewood left behind by Tragsa, the machine dug a 120-meter trench where we could bury it and improve the soil’s fertility.

Clearing the access track.

Opening the trench to bury woody debris

To imporove soil fertility, we want to test syntropic techniques based on accumulating organic matter to improve water retention and soil biodiversity.

Research into Ecological Restoration Technologies

Ecological restoration best practices recommend establishing a biodiversity baseline. We are therefore testing several ecosystem monitoring technologies.

“Eco-friendly” Camera Traps

In our research about camera traps, we do not want to discard eight batteries every time we visit a wildlife camera, so we are comparing a conventional camera with rechargeable lithium batteries and a solar-powered Wi-Fi camera.

The workflow differs greatly. Conventional cameras require two kits of battery and memory card to exchange in each visit to recover the pictures. In contrast, with the solar-powered camera, everything is done via Wi-Fi; you only need a phone to transfer the photos, and no batteries or memory cards are required. It can be placed in more inaccessible locations where you don’t have to go every time you need to retrieve the images, and it greatly simplifies logistics if you have multiple cameras. However, it has the drawback that it may be more noticeable to wildlife, and it can only be placed in sunny areas.

First wildlife detection test at a pond.

Camera with two rechargeable battery sets and charger.

Bird Microphones

Artificial intelligence has revolutionised bird monitoring. Using open-source BirdNET we can identify bird populations automatically. We are building several units for installation at Almazarán.

BirdNET can run on Raspberry Pi devices with low-cost digital microphones, providing an accessible solution that generates valuable biodiversity information.

Wireless digital microphone prototype under testing.

BirdNET-PiPy interface showing detected species.

In two months we will tell you how Almazarán has fared through the summer.

Monday, 29 June 2026