On 9 September 2026, the Andalusian government presented the guidelines for its environmental policy at a hearing before the parliament’s Committee on Sustainability and the Environment. The minister responsible, Fina Martínez highlighted three priorities: preventive forest management to reduce risks, strengthening and expanding protected areas, and accelerating administrative environmental procedures without lowering assessment standards.
For forest policy, the government announced a dedicated funding line for private forest owners worth €44.3 million The plans include maintenance work to reduce fuel loads, programmes to restore burnt areas and the upkeep of forest tracks. The measures are intended to cover both public and private land and to develop existing cooperation models with municipalities. In addition, municipal climate change measures will receive €14 million They are aimed primarily at particularly vulnerable municipalities and at projects to sequester carbon on land and in water areas. Approved projects are to be entered in an Andalusian compensation register and serve both the department’s internal emissions offsetting and private climate protection projects.
For protected areas, Martínez named several projects: the planned expansion of the Parque Natural de Los Alcornocales, investment in visitor facilities, including at the Conejeras centre in the Sierra de las Nieves, and restoration measures in Doñana, including work at Veta la Palma and Tierras Bajas. The Doñana Biosphere Reserve is also to be expanded by 27,276 hectares. The regional government points to ongoing agreements with the Spanish state, within the framework of which implementation is to continue.
To speed up administration, the government announced that it would draw up the Ley para la Gestión Ambiental de Andalucía , supported by three regulations on partner involvement, public participation and preventive instruments. Digital tools are intended to make procedures more transparent and faster. These include the new system BINDIFO for managing forest grants. Martínez stressed that shorter deadlines must not come at the expense of technical quality or environmental safeguards.
Questions remain for now about the legal basis for the funding in the budget, specific timetables for the regulations, and coordination with municipalities and the central government. Nevertheless, the framework presented marks a clear political priority: prevention in forests, protection of sensitive ecosystems and more efficient permitting in Andalusia.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).