Forest Health 3.0: use of new technologies applied to forest modernisation and the phytosanitary improvement of forest stands.

The project

The need to care for the health of the forests in the Balearic Islands due to the appearance of plagues and diseases has led the Environment department of the Balearic Government to develop specific action plans that prioritise the protection and recovery of the islands’ areas of nature. 

These plans are key for environmental sustainability and include two sustainable tourism tax projects that go hand in hand: creating a citizen science platform for greener and healthier forests, and the use of new technologies applied to forest modelling, both aimed at controlling and combatting the main pests, the introduction of exotic and invasive species, and any related threats. 

Priority will be given to actions with environmental relevance and for intensive use on public land.  The main forest species in the Balearic Islands are the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), the majority species, which covers 43% of the islands’ wooded surface area, together with the holm oak (Quercus ilex). 

This project is based on the implementation of three separate courses of action with a common objective, namely the conservation of Balearic forests, and which are: 

- The implementation of new technologies applied to forest health to move forward in the effective management of forest stands, while also being able to model and predict future scenarios of damage by forest pests and diseases. 

- Development of a web viewer that integrates all relevant information on forest health, maps of affected areas, traps, etc., and areas included in the Balearic Network for the Monitoring of Forest Damage. This information will be presented in a public-access GIS online environment, and will also be integrated into the citizen science platform. 

- Improving the health of forest stands by applying pathogen-controlling measures, which are particularly important for halting the introduction and expansion of exotic organisms that might be harmful to our flora and fauna, as has been the case of Xylella fastidiosa in recent years. 

Technological innovation becomes a key tool for dealing with new challenges in managing forest health, especially in the early detection of risks and threats to forest stands. 

Controlling populations of certain harmful insects through necessary forestry and cultural treatments, particularly those of a preventive nature, is essential for forest stands to remain in good health and to reduce their vulnerability in the face of these and many other pathogens that have yet to arrive. 

As a result, keeping forests in good phytosanitary condition necessarily requires active, preventive and integrated action to defend against pests and diseases, where technology and the application of control measures form the basis from which work needs to be carried out.