Urbión Model Forest was awarded a 2008 Environmental Protection prize by the Region of Castilla and Leon in Spain. The jury emphasized the Model Forest’s “innovative character, integrating population and economic agents in sustainable forest management”. The president of the jury emphasized the balance between forest resource management and environmental conservation and services that the forest provides. Fidel Soria, president of the Monte Modelo Urbión Association, indicated that the prize arrived at a very important time in the history of the local population as they take their first steps in collaborative planning of their forest landscape.