The following articles are sourced from the ICAA Registry and Yes to Life, no to Mining. Froxán’s community is also elegible for a prize from the European Outdoor Conservation Association that would help them take their re-foresting work up a notch. Please consider voting for them through this link. The deadline for voting in March 23rd.

The Froxán Common Woodlands, Spain

The Froxán Common Woodlands are a community land of 100 hectares that has been recognized since 1977 as a ‘monte veciñal en man común‘ (‘common hand community land’). This is a consuetudinary land ownership status, recognized in Galician and Spanish law. Its manorial origin can be traced back to 1409 and its charters were issued in 1527 and 1709, defining the boundaries of community lands and the manorial obligations.

The peasants of Froxán collectively extinguished the manorial ties in 1928, buying off the lands for the sum of 6.049 pesetas. However, this ‘manorial redemption’ agreement was not respected by the state, which took hold of the common lands, incorporating them into the Public Woodlands Catalogue. This severely restricted traditional rights of use, and in particular communal pastoralism. Lands were handed over to mining companies, which held concessions over the community territory, and to the State Forestry Service, which established its own plantations. Mining activities produced severe environmental degradation and land disputes that continue today. Invasive forest species, including Acacia and Eucalyptus, were introduced during the same period.

Across Galicia, social pressure against forced reforestation programmes led to the legal recognition in 1968 of ‘common hand’ community lands. On April 14 1975, seven months before the death of the Dictator Franco, the entire Froxán community signed a petition to the Civil Governor demanding the devolution of common lands. This occurred in defiance of the Municipality, which legally held the property at the time. In 1977, the Froxán Common Woodlands were formally recognized, and the community gained legal status soon after. Direct assembly governance was established, with one representative of each house making up the collective body. Commoner status is not dependent on property ownership or inheritance, but on effective residency and participation in the village community and collective decision-making. In 2002, the last remaining ties with the Public Administration were broken, finalizing the Forestry Contract that had been inherited from the dictatorship period, and gaining full self-governance of the community lands.

Faced with degradation from mining, the community commenced restoration efforts in the 1990s, and these continue to the present day. Initially, the restoration efforts included filling abandoned pits and shafts. More recently, efforts have been initiated to eradicate exotic invasive species (particularly Acacia decurrens, Acacia dealbata and Robinia pseudoacacia) that are aggressively expansive and pyrophytes. Eucalyptus plantations are also being removed, as the last productive cycle gives way to restoration with high-ecological-value native species.

In spite of the influence of invasive species, the community’s territory includes several priority natural habitats under the EU Habitats Directive, such as Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior (91E0*), Temperate Atlantic wet heaths with Erica ciliaris and Erica tetralix (4020*), Arborescent matorral with Laurus nobilis (5230*) and other natural habitats such as Galicio-Portuguese oak woods with Quercus robur and Quercus pyrenaica (9230), Forest vegetation with Castanea sativa (9260) and Caves not open to the public (8310). Several endangered species (such as Dyopteris guanchica) have been identified in a participatory inventory (see related links), and the area has been included as a Special Scenic Interest Site (LEIP) in the Galician Landscape Catalogue.

Continuing traditional resource uses include gathering firewood, which is used for heating and cooking, and is sporadically sold on a commercial basis generating revenue for the Community; spring water is utilized for household use and irrigation, and also collected in open deposits for wildfire suppression; gorse (Ulex europaeus) is gathered as ‘molime‘ to strawbed (‘estrar’) animal housing and generate manure (‘esterco‘) for fields and food gardens; chestnuts (from Castanea sativa) are gathered are roasted during their season and also preserved; wild mushrooms are gathered and preserved (the common land has been designated as a wild mycological production area); certain aromatic and medicinal plants are used for cultural practices, including Midsummer Solstice (St. John’s eve) or Mayday (‘Maios‘). Two wind turbines have also been installed in the common lands under a 30 year lease agreement, but the community is unable to self-manage energy production under current regulations.

In addition to natural heritage, the common lands hold significant cultural heritage that evidences a long history of communal management. This includes a large stone enclosure that has been dated to the Early Middle Ages, which would hold the community’s herds in the higher part of the mountain. Another feature is a traditional water mill that was documented in a 1563 notarial deed. Oral memory testifies to the existence of a megalithic burial mound called ‘Casa Vella’ (‘Old House’) that would have been destroyed by mining in the mid-20th century, and similar megalithic sites are present in the area. An ancient pathway, which has been identified as a possible secondary route of the Roman Via XX ‘Per loca maritima‘, also goes through the common Castanea sativa forest, preserved by the modern road that replaced it.

In recent years, the Community has been active in engaging the wider society in its conservation and restoration efforts, particularly working with children, schools, families and environmental organizations. These groups have assisted in reclaiming degraded areas affected by mining activity and invasive species, through participatory reforestation with native species. Through these activities, the community seeks to develop an ongoing programme for education and sustainability, showcasing the potential of community land-management in addressing pressing environmental and social issues. These issues include climate change, wildfires, invasive species, land and water contamination and degradation, alternatives to rural depopulation, and cultural continuity among traditional peasant communities in Galicia. These efforts were recognized in 2017 with the inclusion of Froxán in the ICCA Registry, being the first Community Area in Spain (and the third in Europe), together with Santiago de Covelo, to participate in the Registry.

Take action:10,000 native tress for Froxán

Today the European Outdoor Conservation Association opened the voting to select a winner from 14 environmental conservation projects, selected as finalists from over 150. The winner will receive major new support for their project.

The Froxán Commons Community (YLNM member and registered Indigenous and Community Conserved Area, ICCA, in Galiza, Spain) is one of this year’s finalists. The community has been nominated for its project seeking to plant 10.000 native trees in 20 hectares of land that has been partially degraded in the past century by mining operations and is currently threatened by new mining concessions.

Voting only takes 2 seconds- support Froxán!

YLNM’s regional coordinators visited Froxán in 2017, learning how the local community and their common lands are threatened by Spanish miner Sacyr’s plans to re-open a tungsten mine. In response, the people of Froxán are filling in old mine workings, restoring their lands and reclaiming the area’s past, present and future for sustainable, commons-based living, not mining.

The people of Froxán’s project- 10,000 native trees for Froxán Community, Spain– would help take this work to the next level, building yet another example of prosperity without mining.

The deadline for voting in March 23rd.

Take action now to support Froxán!

The post Froxán Commons: help defend one of Europe’s first legaly recognized Commons communities appeared first on P2P Foundation.

On the 26th of November I attended a collective hike in Galicia (North West Spain). Organized by the Commons Study Program they invited members of Ergosfera, an association of architects, who guided us in an amazing trip throughout the rural space of Galicia under the lenses of: Commons, Feminism and Rurality. The Commons Study Program is a network of different organizations (academic and non-academic) that jointly create spaces for critical thinking and action around Commons in Galicia.  They work with several types of commons in Galicia- both traditional commonlands and other commons spaces, such as the “Colourful House”-,  as well as with the network Montenoso, an association that works on supporting and disseminating the role of Galician commonlands in society.

From all the interesting insights and discussions we had during the hike, I would highlight three ideas that really made me think on rural areas in Galicia and in the world:

1: Rural spaces are more than marginalized places, with less opportunities and depopulation rates. Many rural spaces in Galicia can be seen as spaces where the forces of capitalism do not act with the same strength than in urban areas, were “something else” can be created in a vacuum of opportunities. The urban can also learn many things from the rural. See the blog entry on “Undead Places. Diasporas & the empty spaces of capitalism” for more on this.

2: “I do want ugliness in my landscape”. This is the slogan of one of the demands of Ergosfera. “Ugliness” (in Spanish “feísmo”) is a term that has been used since the year 2000 in Galicia – disseminated by the main Galician journal- to refer to the improvised, recycled and unplanned arquitecture typical from Galician rural territories. The term expanded a very contemptuous view of rural territories among the Galician local population. Galicians talk about their own rural areas as “ugly” and they recognize the typical Galician “ugliness”. Ergosfera advocates that “ugliness” is a term fuelled by the administration, full of urban esthetical pre-conceptions and aspirations towards an idyllic “rural” that does not exist. Ergosfera argues that this “ugly” architecture expresses the character of the people that live in a place, and get away from the unanimated and standardized landscapes that sometimes result from planned developments that follow aesthetic patterns coming from outside. Ugliness architecture is born from the desire of functionality, a result of daily practices. I will show three examples of the Galician “ugliness” below.

3: “People have lost an understanding of what commons mean”. Two commons organizations were present in the hike: the commonland of O Carballo and Montenoso. O Carballo also participated in the organization of the hike, we walked through their lands, and had lunch at their house. Talking to both organizations I got the impression that the main problem of current commonlands in Galicia is that people do not understand what commons are: sometimes people are suspicious of altruistic behaviours from other commoners, thinking that they hide individual interests, sometimes commoners simply want to divide gains between them instead of re-investing in the community and in the commons. Montenoso’s task is to explain to people what commons mean: not just a good that is managed by a group of people, but the process of building the community, the relations of care towards the forests, a new place with opportunities coming from local resources, etc.

Three examples of the Galician “ugliness”

For Galicians, building their house is a process. They will build more rooms when they have the money to do so and when they will need more room for a growing family.  New extensions will be attached to the house throughout the process; houses end up looking as “abstract figures”.

Example of “ugliness”: improvised houses. O Barco de Valdeorras, Rubén Vizcaíno en La Voz de Galicia (Galician Journal)

Attitudes of recycling are still on the consciousness of people, that do not worry on aesthetics, but rather on the functionality.

Example of “ugliness”: recycling in a village in Galicia. Fences made out of bed frames. Villa Somier, Covas, Viveiro. Source: Ergfosfera.

Houses are both productive and reproductive spaces. The image below shows a house where the ground floor is a garage for storing agricultural machinery while the up floors serves for residential purposes.

Example of “ugliness”: spaces of production and reproduction. Own picture made during the hike.

Thank you all, organisers and participants, for the amazing moments and insights!

The post A trip across Galician territory: building the rural and the commons appeared first on P2P Foundation.