Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

León, Valladolid, Soria, Segovia, Salamanca, Zamora, Ávila, Burgos, Palencia (Castilla y León), A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, Pontevedra (Galicia), Teruel, Huesca, Zaragoza (Aragón), Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida, Girona (Catalonia), Cáceres, Badajoz (Extremadura), Huelva, Cadiz, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Jaen, Almeria, Malaga (Andalusia), Cuenca, Albacete, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Guadalajara (Castilla-La Mancha), Madrid (Community of Madrid), Castellon, Valencia, Alicante (Community of Valencia), Murcia (Region of Murcia).

Geographic scope:

España

Execution date:

2024

Duration:

09/02/2024 - 31/12/2025

Typology:

Development and diversification of forestry uses and harvests

Total budget:

2,103,750.00 euros

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

1,998,562.50 euros (95%)

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) group together a heterogeneous series of goods (and increasingly more associated services) that have the common characteristic of being rooted in the rural territory and have always been viewed as latent resources with high potential for development and green employment. According to the latest data published by INIA, the economic impact of NTFPs can be up to 75% of the value of timber, with both types of harvesting being compatible. It is also estimated that more than 150,000 rural jobs could be generated from NTFP-related subsectors, especially for women, thus contributing to gender equity. However, this dormant potential needs to be activated by addressing the main challenges of this product group.

IMFOREST will promote the productive development of the set of bioproducts and services associated with NTFPs through sustainable management and conservation tools that can address the threats associated with climate change and rural abandonment. The project will also characterize the value chains of the different products, identifying the obstacles that prevent transforming the resource into an opportunity, designing legal and governance tools to ensure that their sustainable use generates value in the environment. The combined scientific, technical and empirical expertise of the project partners will allow us to go a step further and implement specific projects and initiatives linked to NTFPs.

The overall objective of the project is to activate the endogenous potential associated with the main Spanish NTFPs so that they become sources of gender equitable green employment and contribute to the fight against depopulation.

• Physiographic, biological and chemical characterization of NTFPs associated with habitats of community interest.
• Determination of the effects of climate change on NTFP production and diversity.
• Potential identification and classification of bioproducts derived from NTFPs in a circular bioeconomy context.
• Promotion and valuation of services offered by NTFPs in relation to tourism, recreational use and ecosystem services.
• Adaptive forest management recommendations for NTFP-producing ecosystems aimed at increasing their resilience to climate change and strengthening their role as key resources in the face of the demographic challenge.
• Innovative and demonstrative projects related to the management of non-timber forest products.
• Living-Labs: Sharing data, knowledge and new adaptive management models to changing climate change scenarios.
• Definition of a legal framework adapted to the use of NTFPs and to improve social sustainability.
• Promoting forest certification of sustainable forest management and the NTFP value chain for responsible production and marketing of natural resources.
• Governance and social innovation in migration and gender policies linked to NTFPs.
• Promotion of rural associations and entrepreneurship, advising the productive fabric to face the demographic challenge.
• Creation of new sustainable business models based on NTFPs.
• NTFP green marketing and commercialization plan: Application of innovation, sustainability and digitalization tools for the promotion of the local economy and the generation of opportunities in the face of the demographic challenge.
• Promoting the production of goods and services associated with NTFP ecosystems. Entrepreneurship and promotion of economic initiatives as a contribution to the socioeconomic sustainability of rural areas.
• Project coordination and management.
• Carrying out communication actions to amplify the results of the project.
• Strengthening the capacities of NTFP stakeholders.
• Creation of instruments to encourage participation and ensure the sustainability and replicability of the project.