In the month of September, work was carried out on clearing gorse in the neighbouring mountain communities of Vilacampa, Cadramón and Frexulfe in the municipality of O Valadouro to improve the state of conservation of the mosaic of peat bogs and wet heaths in those areas of the Serra do Xistral with excessive gorse coverage and thus promote the recovery of these habitats of great ecological value.
This month, as the soil is drier in the Xistral, is the best time to carry out the tasks that require the use of machinery. The mechanized clearing for the elimination of the cover of gorse, followed by the traditional cattle management contributes to the recovery and the good state of conservation of these habitats protected by the Network Natura 2000 in the province of Lugo.
Before starting the work to remove the gorse bushes, the Life In Common Land technical team visited the mountain together with the community members and the site manager to check if the soil was dry and to mark the areas of clearing and access.
During the visit to Frexulfe, the project technicians supervised the work and indicated to the workers of the company that had been awarded the contract the guidelines for achieving a better state of conservation of the peat bogs and wet heaths. In Cadramón, the two recently cleared areas were visited to check the final execution of the works.
After the clearing works, the maintenance in a favorable state of conservation of these areas depends on the communal farmers being able to maintain a sufficient number of wild horses in these mounts since by grazing the gorse they avoid their excessive growth which favors the good development of the heaths and peat bogs, species that have a greater capacity to store CO2 and combat climate change.
