In early November, we had the opportunity to visit the two organizations we have been working with this year. Our goal has been to accompany them through an important transition process: moving from seedling-based reforestation to a method closer to the one we use at Semillistas, which focuses on direct seed sowing.
To conclude the training process, we visited their territories to better understand the conditions in each area and thus be able to provide more precise guidance on how to adapt the methodology to their ecosystems. Each landscape offered us different and complementary lessons.
In Malaga, we toured the Sierra de Mijas, both on its southern and northern sides. This is an area that has recently suffered fires, but is showing very positive regeneration. There, we discussed how to diversify species, strengthen the tree layer, and expand the imagination of possibilities beyond the traditional paradigm of planting trees, towards a vision that includes sowing seeds adapted to the territory.
The landscape of Elche showed us a very different reality. We encountered a semi-arid ecosystem that in many ways borders on arid, where rainfall is scarce and highly irregular. There, the mass death of pine trees as a result of drought has transformed the territory into a very lively shrubby maquis, but one marked by the absence of trees. We analyzed how these dry pine trees, when they fall, will generate future niches for regeneration and how to integrate direct sowing while facing challenges such as the strong presence of rabbits. We are also working to expand the possibilities we have imagined and to rethink common practices in order to adapt them to this demanding climate reality.
We will continue to accompany these two organizations for at least another year, and hopefully for many more. The intention is to support them in the implementation of their first plantings, facilitate the learning that arises from them, and progressively improve for subsequent campaigns. We know that shifting the focus of reforestation toward direct seeding is a process that requires time, care, and close guidance. It is not an immediate path, but it is a possible and transformative one.
That is precisely the work we do at Semillistas: accompanying, sharing knowledge, and opening up new ways of relating to the regeneration of our landscapes.
