MEMBERS

Foresna-Zurgaia was created in 1992 because there was a need for an association that would bring together all small woodland owners and landowning public organisations. The region of Navarre is characterised by its great land division, i.e. there are many owners with small plots of land, which makes its management and development difficult.

On 23rd June 1992, a constituent assembly met to appoint the association’s legal representatives:

President: Francisco Javier Berraondo
Vice-president: Juan José Txoperena
Secretary: Luis Ignacio Loyarte
Tresurer: José Félix Arriezu
Other members: José María Irazoqui, Santiago Mitxeltorena, Sabino Pagola

Foresna’s purpose and aims, included in the statutes, could be summarised as follows:

• It is an association of woodland owners, landowners and managers of woodland areas (foresters of Navarre), natural person or legal entity, whose aims are:
• The representation, defence and negotiation of the rights and interests of Navarre’s woodland owners in public administrations, both national and international, the media and the wider community.
• Carrying out studies, proposals and reports about problems in the forestry sector and presenting and disseminating them amongst its members, other organisations, institutions and businesses.
• Providing general and personalised advice, training and retraining for optimal woodland management.

In its first two years the association had 130 individual members, covering an area of 1878 acres, and 12 town councils: Zubieta, Dicastillo, Corella, Bera, Administrative Council of the Bidasoa Berroaran Mountains, Arantza, San Adrián, Arellano, Igantzi, Alsasua, Puente la Reina and Salinas de Oro.

At present, Foresna-Zurgaia is a well-established association thanks to a number of agreements signed with the regional government of Navarre (Gobierno de Navarra), such as the Decree of 17th February 1992 (Decreto Foral 59/1992), which lays down its regulations and the objectives on forestry policies, development and promotion of forestry associations. These agreements are based on a regional law (Ley Foral 13/1990), for the protection and development of the Forest Heritage of Navarre.

Moreover, the Forestry Plan of Navarre, passed by the Parliament of Navarre in November 1998, established that its goal would be to develop and improve forestry management (objective 7). For this purpose, several projects were planned such as numbers 722, to “Support the creation of forestry associations” and 743, to “Train woodland owners”.