Change doesn’t happen overnight. To facilitate the shift toward healthier forests that store more carbon and restore biodiversity, it is vital to work closely with the people who manage, use and work with forests.

To share scientific insights and knowledge with those who have the power to influence forest management in the field, a set of training sessions have been designed by the Forest Ownership Centre (CPF), a forest administration in Catalonia, to address “multipliers” such as forest professionals and other public forest workers who work hand in hand with small private forest owners in the region. The first session took place in El Montmell, a village in the Tarragona province, for a group of 26 forest rangers. The training took place in an Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) forest to show how sustainable forest management can help capture more carbon and reduce CO₂ emissions while preventing wildfires. The site is an area partly affected by a wildfire in 1976 that has since grown back naturally and now consists of a dense cover of Aleppo pine regeneration. These young forests are especially at risk of burning again, and repeated fires can cause permanent tree and soil loss. Forest management can lower this risk by reducing excess biomass and helping stronger trees grow faster and produce seeds in a shorter cycle. This approach prevents fires, enhances the chances of tree recovery in case of a new fire and helps capture more carbon from the atmosphere.