Partners and Associates
To achieve its main objectives, COMFOR-SUDOE will create a Complex Forest Experimental Network, which will bring together research on this type of forests systems within Southwest Europe by proposing pilot sites where to test processing methods, mixed plantations and marteloscopes. The SUDOE Complex Forests Intelligent Specialisation Network will be a forum where science, management, and policies shall meet to develop the White Paper on smart specialisation strategy that promotes complex forests conservation and sustainable use in Southwest Europe.
The COMFOR-SUDOE partnership represents a large panel of collaborators with complementary skills and expertise across Europe.
PARTNERS
CSIC-MNCN
The National Museum of Natural Sciences is one of the most important scientific research institutes in the country in the field of natural sciences. With over 70 researchers in areas ranging from paleobiology and geology to ecology and climate change, including environmental biology and biodiversity, the Museum is one of the emblematic centers of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Our aim is to convey to society the knowledge generated by our researchers. We count on, for that purpose, our highly qualified professionals dedicated to the scientific collections and art exhibitions that the Museum houses, enabling explanations of scientific discoveries for the visiting public. We are thrilled to stimulate our visitors who can enjoy their time learning about our planet and how it has changed, about the tremendous diversity it has been home to, from the origin of life to the presesent.
Universidad de Oviedo
The University of Oviedo was founded at the beginning of the 17th Century. The institution has great prestige in the fields of education and research is one of the first nine Spanish Universities to obtain the Campus of International Excellence quality seal. The University’s commitment to the protection of the environment and natural resources is undeniable, and examples of this are the important number of researchers in this field or the existence of associated centers, such as the Research Unit Biodiversity (made of researches from the University of Oviedo, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and the Principality of Asturias), which are based on the study of the environment and how human actions affect the development of its essential processes and services.
ECOACSA
A leading Spanish SME, located in Madrid and operating at national and international scales whose aim is to create value through natural capital. We promote projects to facilitate the integration of environmental sustainability and natural capital conservation in companies and organizations, with the objective of increasing their efficiency and effectiveness, as well as to improve their social and environmental impact. Ecoacsa’s mission is to help businesses and organisations to better understand their relationship with nature by encouraging natural capital mainstreaming into their decision-making, thus helping them in their transition towards sustainability.
IEFC
The European Institute of Planted Forest (IEFC) is a network of forest owners, practitioners, researchers, and educators who aim to coordinate and utilise, a bottom-up approach of forest owner/practitioner driven problem solving, to promote, facilitate, and improve, through research, networking, and communication, the future sustainability of Planted Forests in Europe.
The IEFC facilitates transnational scientific and technical cooperation by coordinating the planning and implementation of collaborative research and development projects, and promotes sharing of experience and capacities between its members and more broadly with actors involved in the sustainable management and use of planted forests.
ISA-DRAT
School of Agriculture (ISA-DRAT) is a graduate and post-graduate school also dedicated to research integrating two research centres dedicated to forest studies: the Forest Research Centre (CEF) and the Centre for Applied Ecology “Prof. Baeta Neves” (CEABN). The main research interests of both centres focus on sustainable and adaptive forest management, valuation of ecosystem services, biotic and abiotic disturbances including fire ecology and management, forest growth modelling, and the integration of models and disturbances in forest simulation tools to assist forest managers.
Universidad de Valladolid
The University of Valladolid is one of the leading centers of higher education in Spain. It currently boasts over 23,000
students enrolled and it is involved in numerous international relations network and research centers. It is also one of the oldest public universities in the country and in Europe, having been founded in the late 13th century. Since then the UVa has adapted to the times to become a sound and prestigious institution in the fields of humanities, social, health and natural physical sciences, engineering and Spanish as a foreign language.
AGRESTA
A multidisciplinary and interterritorial team made up of over 50 professionals experienced in forestry management and the application and development of new technologies. Our main products and services are: forest resource management, forest carbon consulting, remote sensing and LiDAR technology, natural environment engineering, environmental assessments, geographic information systems & GPS, web and mobile based applications and training. We work to improve forestry areas, making use of innovation and putting into practice the values of the cooperative model.
UEFP
The Forest Experimental Facility (UEFP) is recognized as a collective scientific facility of INRAE since 2018. In its missions, the UEFP installs and manages forest trials and instrumented sites; measures and collects various samples in all types of forest ecosystems; produces and conserves genetic resources of various forest species. For this purpose, the UEFP manages large forest lands associated with the trials (more than 700 ha of its own land and under agreement), owns a 4 ha nursery as well as technical labs dedicated to seed and pollen conditioning and biomass measurements and has staff with expertise in the creation/administration of IS and data bases.
Centro Tecnológico Agrario y Agroalimentario Itagra.CT
A private non-profit association that was established in 2000.
The scope of work is the agricultural sector, considered from different points of view: agricultural and livestock, environmental, forestry and the agri-food industry.
The Center has the vocation of supporting companies in improving their competitiveness through a culture of innovation, facilitating channels for optimizing their benefits and reducing costs through technological solutions.
ASSOCIATES
Dirección de la Biodiversidad Gobierno de la Rioja
The General Directorate of Biodiversity of the Government of La Rioja is the public administration responsible for the management of the natural resources of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja. This management covers aspects such as the conservation of protected areas and species, sustainable forest management of the uses and ecosystem resources of forests (timber, firewood, pasture, hunting, recreational use, etc.), forest fires, river fishing, management of public use and environmental education, among others. All this by applying forestry and environmental policies derived from European, national and regional commitments, in accordance with the corresponding planning and legislation.
Parque Nacional de Cabaneros
Cabañeros National Park is located in Montes de Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, northwest of theprovince of Ciudad Real and southwest of Toledo. Is bounded on the east by Bullaque river and on the west by Estena river, both tributaries of the Guadiana river and covers the clumps of El Chorito and Rocigalgo.
It is part of the National Parks Spanish Network, being a selection of the best examples of Spanish natural heritage. Cabañeros, together with Tablas de Daimiel, are the two National Parks in the Castilla-La Mancha region, and so on both are part of the protected natural areas network of this region. Specifically, Cabañeros National Park was established in 1995 to protect a representative sample of the best preserved Spanish Mediterranean forests.
Dirección General de Politica Forestal
Junta de Extremadura
Dirección General de Medio Natural
y Biodiversidad
Junta de Castilla y Mancha
The Dirección General de Medio Natural
y Biodiversidad, which is part of the Ministry of Sustainable Development in Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, is the department in charge of managing natural environment, carrying out the regional policy on the protection of natural areas and species, forest fires prevention and control, hunting and fishing, and sustainable forest management.
Gobierno del Principiado de Asturias – Consejeria de Medio Rural y Cohesión Territorial
The Regional Ministry of Rural Environment and Territorial Cohesion is the highest body of the Government of Asturias responsible for proposing and carrying out Government policy in the areas of environment, agricultural, livestock, fisheries and forest resources, agri-food industry and rural development. The Dirección General de Medio Natural y Planificación Rural is in charge of proposing and executing regional policy on the protection of natural spaces and species to support the environmental contribution to sustainable development, reporting and, where appropriate, promoting and implementing the civil works and installations to be conducted on nature reserves, developing the underlying principles and criteria of the Government’s policy on the conservation and sustainable use of hunting and inland fishing resources.
Dirección General de Patrimonio Natural
y Política Forestal de la
Junta de Castilla y León
The region of Castilla y León, in Spain, is one of the largest European regions and maintains an extraordinary richness of forests and biodiversity. Public forests, mostly owned by municipalities and other local entities, occupy around 2,5 million hectares or 50 % of the forest and other wooded land area.
This department is responsible for managing around 2 million hectares of forests owned by the regional government, local entities and private owners who signed a management contract with the forest administration.
It oversees a multi-function land management, including the production of wood and other resources like resin, cork, nuts and mushrooms, but mostly for social benefits, like biodiversity conservation, public use, water quality and quantity and other ecosystem services.
Union de Selvicultores del Sur de Europa
The Union of Foresters of Southern Europe (USSE) is an European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) uniting forester organisations of Southern Europe. Its headquarters are located in Zamudio, Vizcaya, in the Basque Country, while it has another office in Maison de la Forêt, located at 6 Parvis des Chartrons, 33075 Bordeaux Cedex. The USSE was founded in 1989, as the initiative of forest owner organisations of the Basque Country, Galicia, Aquitaine, Castilla y León and Catalonia; today, USSE represent different foresters’ associations from Portugal, Spain and France. USSE and its members’ network have the potential to gather a geographically relevant level of expertise in connection with the management of complex forests and mixed-species plantations.
Asociacion de Propietarios Forestales de Asturias
NEIKER-TECNALIA
A public agricultural research centre owned 100% by the Basque Government.
NEIKER is devoted to carry out research and development projects in agriculture, livestock, forestry, environmental and natural resources. NEIKER’s objective is to develop activities of basic and applied
research to acquire new knowledge aimed at developing new technologies and practical methodologies that help improve competitiveness and productivity of the economic sectors in which it is involved.
Institut National de l’Information Géographique et Forestière
The National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information (IGN) is a public administrative institution under the dual supervision of the Ministries of Ecology and Forestry. The IGN is the public operator of reference for geographic and forestry information in France. The institute’s mission is to produce, collect and disseminate national geographic and forestry data that are essential to the implementation of public policies on risk prevention, environmental protection and regional planning.
Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas
ICNF is a Public Institute integrated in the indirect administration of the Portuguese State, and part of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action. ICNF is the national forest authority and national authority for nature conservation and biodiversity. The Institute’s mission is to propose and implement integrated policies for the management of the Portuguese territory, in articulation with public and private entities, in the domains of nature conservation, biodiversity, forests, and competitiveness of the forestry base industries, and to ensure coordination of the structural prevention and management of wildfires. ICNF is also responsible for the implementation of the National Forest Inventory and manager of public and communal forest areas.
União da Floresta Mediterrânica
A non-profit organization that gathers 6 regional organizations of private landowners covering a total area of 2 million hectares, with agro-silvicultural systems representing 700000 hectares from Beira Interior to Baixo Alentejo region. Its main goals are promoting the development of Mediterranean forest and the economic and social interests of its associate forest owners’ associations.
Associação Natureza Portugal, en asociación con WWF
A Portuguese environmental NGO. Created on 14/11/2017, to continue the work developed in national territory under the framework of WWF Mediterranean, its mission is the conservation of national biodiversity, forest ecosystems and wildlife, the protection of marine biodiversity and the promotion of the sustainability of fisheries, the conservation of freshwater ecosystems and the water resources they provide. ANP|WWF also intervenes on the theme of climate change and the promotion of sustainable consumption.
