ProPopulus Team
As of 1st May, the “Thanks to Poplar” (Gracias al Chopo, in Spanish) agreement promoted by the Spanish Association of Plywood Manufacturers (AEFCON) came into force in Spain.
This agreement transfers to Spain the French initiative “Merci le Peuplier”, launched in 2014 to reverse the reduction in the number of poplar trees in that country.
This commitment of the French industry to collaborate in the replanting of the harvested poplars achieved in France the objective that had been proposed. The intention of transferring this initiative to Spain is also that no poplar tree harvested is left without replanting.
“Thanks to Poplar” is based on a series of voluntary agreements between the industry, loggers, populiculturists and nurserymen through which populiculturists are provided with an aid of €2 for each plant replanted in their poplar groves within a maximum period of two years since it was harvested.
Objectives of the agreement
The objectives pursued by the “Thanks to Poplar” initiative in Spain are mainly:
• Encourage the replanting of poplar after harvest to ensure that the wood remains a renewable resource.
- Perpetuate the resource of standing poplars.
- Develop the use of wood with PEFC or FSC certification, from the plantation or forest owner to the consumer.
- Empower the spirit of the sector and strengthen the ties between each link, especially through transparency of the results of this operation.
- Make the image of the poplar evolve.
The conditions applicable for the aid of €2/plant are: not to plant more than 330 trees per hectare, that the planting frame is at least 5.5 x 5.5 m and that the poplar is PEFC or FSC certified.
How to access the agreement?
The entire system is managed through the website www.graciasalchopo.org, where each participant in the initiative enters the data that allows them to control that the payments are made and the poplar trees are replanted, without using intermediaries. The effectiveness of this system has been demonstrated in the years that it has been operating in France.
The website www.graciasalchopo.orgis the official website for public communications of the “Thanks to Poplar” agreement. The “Thanks to Poplar” section can also be accessed at www.mercilepeuplier.org. It includes a list of signatories, whose data can be entered (logo, postal address, contact, company website). In addition, companies are geolocated on a map at the address they indicate.