Modern and Contemporary Times

The forest recovery initiated with the final Medieval crisis ended soon (1500 CE), when a third large-scale deforestation began, linked to a significant regional population increase. Maximum deforestation (~50% and >60% less tree pollen than present and Late-Bronze values) occurred by the middle eighteenth century, coinciding with the maximum of iron forges, which required abundant carbon supplies. Minimum forest cover also coincided with an abrupt increase in large-scale hemp retting, which was the main activity around the lake between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, to provide fiber for sails and ropes to the royal navy, which was crucial for the worldwide expansion of the Spanish Empire. Forest recovery started in the transition to Contemporary times (late-eighteenth century) and continued until the present, with a minor and brief retraction during the Industrial Revolution (mid-late nineteenth century). Hemp retting was abandoned by 1850 CE, coinciding with the end of the Spanish Empire and the dismantling of the royal navy. This was also the onset of a major regional depopulation of the Pallars region due to the massive emigration to lowland industrialized cities, notably Barcelona and its surroundings. Hemp cultivation in the southern Montcortès lowlands was revived in the 1980s to provide pulp for the paper industry and declined again in the 2000s.