Granada’s tree planting project sets global standard for forest bioeconomy

A poplar tree planting project in Granada province, known as 'Life Wood for Future-Madera para el Futuro', has become an international benchmark for sustainability and forest bioeconomy thanks to its high impact on the province.

For this reason, provincial authority the Diputación de Granada has hosted a meeting to learn first-hand about this successful model, with the participation of key stakeholders at provincial, regional and national level.

Also present were members of the project's partner institutions including the University of Granada (UGR), the University of Santiago de Compostela and the confederation of forestry organisations of Spain.

The project has involved the creation of the certified plant nursery on at Cortijo Peinado in Fuente Vaqueros to produce high quality poplar clones for biostructural products and native varieties for the recovery of riverbanks.

The project has also included reforestation plans around the Dílar river in Vega and has supplied plant material for river improvement actions in towns like Cenes de la Vega and Fuente Vaqueros.

Life Madera para el Futuro' has managed to mobilise almost nine million euros, which guarantees the continuity of the project's impact beyond the end of its implementation. This is the case with the forthcoming creation of the Industrialised Wood Construction Training Centre in Santa Fe, an initiative for which the Diputación has obtained funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the framework of the Ministry of Finance's call for urban development, and which will represent an expected investment of 3.6 million euros.

Another highlight is the creation of the company IberoLam Timber&Technology, a spin-off of the UGR, thanks to the mobilisation of 1.2 million euros of private funding, contributed by researchers and owners of poplar groves, to which has been added a million-euro grant from the TRADE programme of the Andalusian regional government. Iberolam is set to become the first Andalusian factory of innovative products for industrialised construction with wood, for which construction work will begin shortly on its plant in Valderrubio.

It also highlights the million euros invested in the Andalusian Wood Research Unit (UIMA), half of which was invested by the UGR in the restoration of its laboratory in the Sustainability Campus of the San Isidro Sugar Factory and the rest in scientific infrastructure by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; as well as the 380,000 euros that the regional government has allocated to the plan to promote forestry in the community (Plan Madera de Andalucía).

These funds have enabled the creation of the "Marjal" poplar tree owners' association for sustainable forest management and the development of innovative products for low carbon footprint construction, such as a house made with a timber structure in Ogíjares, a tangible example of how poplar wood can lead the fight against climate change and promote a local industry in the province of Granada.