LIFE WOOD FOR FUTURE – recovery of Granada-Vega poplar groves to boost biodiversity and long-term carbon capture through structural bioproducts

LIFE Wood for Future is a project focusing on climate mitigation within the European Union\'s LIFE Programme, which aims to recover Granada-Vega Poplar groves to boost biodiversity and long-term CARBON capture through structural bioproducts.

3edata integrates in the Project consortium as associated beneficiary, together with University of Granada, the Platform for Structural Timber Engineering (PEMADE) of the Campus Terra of the University of Santiago de Compostela, the Confederation of Spanish Foresters’ Organisations (COSE) and the County Council of Granada. The consortium has been awarded by the European Commission to develop LIFE Wood for Future. The project aims to recover of Granada-Vega poplar groves to boost biodiversity and long-term carbon capture through structural bioproducts.

The project focuses in the Vega de Granada and its poplar groves (alamedas), a sign of cultural identity for more than a century, which offer the ideal ecological raw material for this initiative. LIFE Wood for Future aims to be an instrument for the recovery of the alamedas in the face of the expansion of intensive herbaceous crops, thus absorbing much more CO2 and fighting against climate change.

However, it will have an impact beyond this region, as it seeks to replicate and transfer the results of the project to other regions of Spain and the European Union, i.e. the project has a demonstrative vocation.

Among the expected results of LIFE Wood for Future are:

• Creation of the Poplar Ecoproducers’ Association.

• Development of a model for the environmental improvement of poplar

• Application of Carbon farming schemes to valorise CO2 capture.

• Creation of a local nursery for certified poplar plants in the Granada region.

• Restoration of 2 km of riverbanks in the Vega de Granada

• Creation and commercialization of a technological tool (TIK tool) for the evaluation of the quality of the wood in all the value chain (TIK tool)

• Incorporation of poplar wood to the standard EN 1912, as a species of structural character.

• Creation and commercialisation of poplar-based structural bioproducts for the construction industry.

LIFE Wood for Future is part of the LIFE Programme of the European Union, integrated within the Climate Change Mitigation Priority Area. The project has a total budget of 2.98 millions euros, financed by de European Commission through the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).