Technological Centre

LIFE REFOREST presents preliminary results of the project in Ponteareas

The workshop took place on Thursday, December 9, at the Centro Sociocultural Xinzo de Ponteareas, in Pontevedra.

LIFE REFOREST aims to mitigate erosion and loss of soil in areas affected by forest fires through an innovative system based on mycothecnosols.

After the workshop, the group visited one of the three experimental plots where the effectiveness of this innovative system is tested, based on a combination of stabilized organic waste inoculated with fungi, and contained in tubular sleeves of biodegradable material.

At least 80% of the European territory that burns every year belongs to countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece or Turkey, being Portugal and Spain the countries with the highest number of affected areas by forest fires.

The LIFE REFOREST project, funded by the European LIFE Program and led by CETIM Technology Center, aims to mitigate erosion and soil loss in areas affected by forest fires through an innovative system based on micotechnosols, a combination of inoculated stabilized organic waste with fungi, contained in tubular sleeves of biodegradable material.

LIFE REFOREST has a multidisciplinary consortium linked to the forestry, environmental and biotechnological sectors, formed by the Asociación Forestal de Galicia, la Associação Florestal de Portugal (FORESTIS), Hifas da Terra, Indutec Ingenieros, Tratamientos Ecológicos del Noroeste (TEN) and the Universidad de Aveiro.

Workshop LIFE REFOREST
Last Thursday, December 9th, the LIFE REFOREST project workshop was held at the Centro Sociocultural Xinzo (Ponteareas).

The first part of the workshop was started by Julio Fierro, senior researcher in the area of ECO BIO Technologies at CETIM, who presented the LIFE REFOREST project and by Jacob Keizer, researcher at the University of Aveiro, who presented the preliminary results of the LIFE REFOREST solution.

This session also included a presentation by Cristina Fernández from the Forestry Research Center of Lourizán, who spoke about Innovative management for the valorization and resilience of forest space in the context of the Forvalue Project.

To test the effectiveness of the innovative system proposed in LIFE REFOREST, this solution has been installed in different pilot locations: in the local forests of Nespereira (Pazos de Borbén – Pontevedra), in the mountains of Albergaria (Aveiro – Portugal) and in the mountains of the municipality of Oliveira de Frades (Portugal).

Therefore, in the second part of the day, a visit was made to the experimental plot of Nespereira (Pazos de Borbén).

Visit to experimental plot of Nespereira (Pazos de Borbén, Pontevedra)

CETIM, leader and coordinator of the project
Initially, CETIM has worked on the characterization, formulation, design and laboratory development of the LIFE REFOREST solution, for its subsequent installation in the pilot sites selected for testing its effectiveness.

As leaders of the project and in order to facilitate the future implementation of the LIFE REFOREST solution in the market, CETIM develop guides that help the replicability and transferability of the system in other geographical areas burned in Europe. For this, in collaboration with CESAM, Hifas da Terra, TEN Tecnosuelos and Indutec Ingenieros, we validate the effectiveness of the LIFE REFOREST system on soil erosion and runoff water pollution.

Thus, the LIFE REFOREST project will therefore contribute to the improvement of soils eroded by fires in Europe, also helping to implement the principles of the Circular Economy through the recovery of waste and by-products. Likewise, the European Soil and Forest Strategies and the European Water Directive will be favored by the development of LIFE REFOREST.