TUI Forest Navarra Holistic environmental restoration
- Arguedas
- NAVARRA, SPAIN
- 2026
From Wildfire to Restoration:
The Story of TUI Forest Navarra
The Bardenas Reales region in Navarra, Spain, is a unique, semi-arid landscape and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, popular for hiking, cycling, photography and wildlife watching. It’s close neighbour, the nearby Sendaviva Nature Park in the adjacent municipality of Arguedas also offers high quality nature tourism. Both destinations together usually attract over 570,000 visitors annually.
In June 2022, a devastating wildfire burned nearly 2,000 hectares of these important environmental areas, including 862 hectares of forestland and shrubland, leaving them vulnerable to desertification, flooding, and ecological degradation. The fire affected 7,000 residents in three villages, destroying livelihoods, and changing the landscape into a barren terrain that no longer appeals to nature-based tourists.
TUI Forest Navarra restores 80 hectares of fire-affected forest as part of a broader 320-hectare restoration initiative in Arguedas, Navarra. It takes a future-proof approach by tackling environmental and social challenges simultaneously. Science-based reforestation combines natural forest recovery with native tree planting and water management improvements to prevent erosion and flooding. Alongside this, conservation measures for endangered species help to restore the ecosystem whilst creating sustainable economic opportunities. The initiative engages residents through employment, environmental education, and tree planting activities, whilst developing nature-based tourism experiences connecting visitors to restoration efforts.
Land Life Project: Arguedas, Navarra, Spain
The fire that devastated Fresno de Rodilla happened back in August 2012. The fire burned more than 200 hectares. Land Life started working to restore this region in 2018, including the neighboring town of Quintanapalla. Image source: NASA.
Reviving Fresno de Rodilla: Land Life's Sustainable Approach After the Wildfire
As a consequence of a devastating fire in August 2012, we carried out a reforestation project in Fresno and Quintanapalla in partnership with the local town councils. After a few years of waiting, there was no natural regeneration, Land Life decided to bet on innovation and new technology to undertake reforestation in Fresno, as well as in the neighboring town of Quintanapalla. The goal: to restore soil quality and bring the area back to life. Despite strong winds in the project area, our 97,000 tree plantation, which also uses Cocoon, has an overall health score of 75%. Land Life's approach is to halt soil degradation in Fresno and Quintanapalla and return the area to the native forest that once prevailed before the fire while creating an environment that promotes biodiversity.
Project highlight
4
Key goals
- 01
Support for natural regeneration
- 02
Native reforestation
- 03
Hydrological interventions to reduce erosion
- 04
Landscape improvement to support the ecosystem
80
Hectares planted and regenerated
Assist natural regeneration
- 01Clear-cutting
- 02Barrier construction
- 03Raft Construction
320 hectáreas
people involved in the restoration
Who did we work with?
Benefits Beyond Carbon
Diverse Species for Resilience
Planting native, mixed species to avert the risk of future wildfires. This project will sequester approximately 22.000 tons of carbon over the first 40 years.
Supporting Biodiversity
Focused on restoring more than 102 hectares of land, local species such as the Iberian wolf, hoopoe, wild cat in the Fresno de Rodilla region will will have better conditions to return.
Supporting jobs and future generations
Working with local planting crews and communities, this project brings nature back to its original state, stimulating returns to the local economy, and preventing potential future abandonment.
Other Land Types
Case studies according to different land types and degradation causes.
