Case study

"Aromas del Encinar - AROEN": aromatic and medicinal plants from Madrid municipality rural areas

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Objective:

“Aromas del encinar - AROEN”, in Spanish language,  literally means “aromas from the holm oak forests” and is a family-run project born with the aim to enhance the sustainable management of this ecosystem, very frequent in the Madrid municipality. In fact, this ecosystem, in the last decades,  has been often abandoned due to low profitability. The project is based on strong resource management and biodiversity conservation plan, promoting wild-collected aromatic and medicinal plant goods.

Start/end date:

Context:

The holm oak forests are one of the most common ecosystems in the Madrid municipality. Due to the low profitability of forest management, based on timber production, the oak forests, in the last decades, have been abandoned.  The valorization of aromatic and medicinal plants, that grow spontaneously in the oak forests, can improve the profitability of forest management, creating new income opportunities in rural areas.

Contacts:

Jesus Fernandez Moya, jesusfmoya@gmail.com 

Further information:

Aromas del Encinar. Official project. https://aromasdelencinar.com/  (accessed 20 April 2020).