España - Sevilla - San Nicolás del Puerto - Dehesa en la Sierra Norte
ENGLISH:
Dehesa is a multifunctional agro-sylvo-pastoral system (a type of agroforestry) and cultural landscape of southern and central Spain (and southern Portugal, where it is known as montado). Dehesas may be private or communal property (usually belonging to the municipality). Used primarily for grazing, they produce a variety of products including non-timber forest products such as wild game, mushrooms, honey, cork, and firewood. It is also used as natural habitat for the Spanish fighting bull and the Iberian pig. The tree component is oaks, usually holm (Quercus ilex) and cork (Quercus suber). Other oaks, including melojo (Quercus pyrenaica) and quejigo (Quercus faginea), may be used to form dehesa, the species depending on geographical location and elevation. Dehesa is an anthropogenic system that provides not only a variety of foods, but also wildlife habitat for endangered species such as the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle.
The dehesa is derived from the Mediterranean forest ecosystem, consisting of pastureland featuring herbaceous species for grazing and tree species belonging to the genus Quercus (oak), such as the holm oak (Quercus ilex sp. ballota), although other tree species such as beech and pine trees may also be present. Oaks are protected and pruned to produce acorns, which the famous black Iberian pigs feed on in the fall during the montanera. Ham produced from Iberian pigs fattened with acorns and air-dried at high elevations is known as Jamón ibérico, and sells for premium prices, especially if only acorns have been used for fattening.
There is debate about the origins and maintenance of the dehesa, and whether or not the oaks can reproduce adequately under the grazing densities now forced upon the dehesa or montado. Goats, cattle, and sheep also graze in dehesa. In a typical dehesa, oaks are managed to persist for about 250 years. If cork oaks are present, the cork is harvested about every 9 to 12 years, depending on the productivity of the site. The understory is usually cleared every 7 to 10 years, to prevent the takeover of the woodland by shrubs of the rock rose family (Cistaceae), often referred to as "jara", or by oak sprouts. Oaks are spaced to maximize light for the grasses in the understory, water use in the soils, and acorn production for pigs and game. Periodic hunts in the dehesa are known as the monteria. Groups attend a hunt at a private estate, and wait at hunting spots for game to be driven to them with dogs. They usually pay well for the privilege, and hunt wild boar, red deer and other species.
The dehesa system has great economic and social importance on the Iberian peninsula because of both the large amount of land involved and its importance in maintaining rural population levels. The major source of income for dehesa owners is usually cork, a sustainable product that supports this ancient production system and old growth oaks. High end ibérico pigs and sale of hunting rights also represent significant income sources.
The area of dehesa usually coincides with areas that could be termed "marginal" because of both their limited agricultural potential (due to the poor quality of the soil) and a lack of local industry, which results in isolated agro-industries and very low capitalization.
Dehesa covers nearly 20,000 square kilometers on the Iberian peninsula, mainly in:
Portugal (33% of total dehesa world's area)
Alentejo
The Algarve
Spain (23% of total dehesa world's area)
Córdoba
Extremadura
Salamanca
Sierra Morena
Sierra Norte de Sevilla
Sierra de Aracena
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ESPAÑOL:
Dehesa es un bosque formado por encinas, alcornoques u otras especies, con estrato inferior de pastizales o matorrales, donde la actividad del ser humano ha sido intensa, y generalmente están destinados al mantenimiento del ganado, a la actividad cinegética y al aprovechamiento de otros productos forestales (leñas, corcho, setas etc.). Es un ejemplo típico de sistema agrosilvopastoral y típico de la zona occidental de la península ibérica.
El término dehesa viene del latín "defesa", pues los primeros pobladores en la reconquista hacían vallados para proteger los rebaños alojados en ellas.
Resulta así un ecosistema derivado del bosque mediterráneo, constituido por especies arbóreas del género Quercus (encina, alcornoque) u otras especies como hayas o pinos y el estrato herbáceo para pacer.
Se trata de un ecosistema derivado de la actividad humana a partir del bosque de encinas, alcornoques, etc. Es la consecuencia de conquistar al bosque terrenos para destinarlos a pastizales. Pasa por una fase inicial en la que se aclara el bosque denso para pasar a una segunda fase de control de la vegetación leñosa y la estabilización de los pastizales.
El sistema adehesado tiene una gran importancia económica y social en la península ibérica, tanto por su extensión superficial como por la función de fijación de población rural en sus núcleos. Reduciendo el flujo emigratorio y sus consecuencias (envejecimiento, incremento de tasas de mortalidad, reducción de tasas de actividad, abandono de explotaciones, etc).
La explotación de la dehesa suele coincidir con zonas que podríamos denominar “marginales”, tanto por su limitada vocación agraria (derivado de la pobreza de los suelos), como por la inexistencia de un tejido industrial, que se reduce a industrias agroalimentarias aisladas y de muy reducida capitalización.
Su extensión varía mucho según qué autores, pero está entre los dos y los cuatro millones de hectáreas (entre 20 000 y 40 000 km2; para hacerse una idea, 40 000 km2 es la extensión de Extremadura), principalmente en el suroeste y oeste: provincia de Córdoba, Salamanca, Extremadura, Huelva, Sierra Norte de Sevilla, piedemonte del sistema Central en España (especialmente en la zona de Talavera de la Reina) y el Alentejo y Algarve en Portugal.
