Repoblaciones, paisaje forestal y desarrollo industrial en el País Vasco atlántico (1940-1975)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the transformation of forest landscape in the Atlantic Basque Country and the complex factors and actors who participated in that process during Francoism (1939-1975).With a high predominance of private property, reforestation was largely a private initiative. Although the sources consulted come mainly from different public administrations involved in woodlands management, the preponderance of the particular owner has allowed us to analyse circumstances and mechanisms often ignored when dealing exclusively with public forest and its man-agreement. The intensive reforestation, the introduction of new species, a new institutional framework, and changes in the productive orientation of woodlands, within a context of strong industrial growth and rural decline, have changed dramatically both, the landscape and the environment, as well as the character of the industry and forest uses.