The project - Life Wood For Future

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Presentation

In the last 20 years, the area of poplar groves in the Vega de Granada has been intensively reduced, replaced by intensive agricultural crops, as a result of the loss of economic competitiveness due to the lack of association in the sector, uncompetitive forestry, the low market value of the wood as it is used for low value products and the lack of appreciation of the environmental services provided by the poplar groves.

“Granada, the second most polluted city in Spain, has lost 75% of its poplar groves in the last 20 years, a volume of trees that at the beginning of the 21st century was capable of absorbing CO2 from almost 400,000 vehicles.”

Poplar groves have a high carbon sequestration capacity (up to 31 t/ha/year for Populus spp. in the Vega de Granada) and provide multiple other environmental benefits: they regulate the water cycle (they act as green filters that clean the water that reaches the aquifers, moderate river flooding and protect against erosion), refresh the environment, conserve soil quality, improve air quality and provide habitat for many species of fauna.
In addition, for decades construction in many of Europe’s fertile lowlands has turned its back on a local ecological resource with a high capacity to absorb carbon and clean the air: poplar plantations. Today, technical structural timber derived from innovative manufacturing processes offers a great opportunity to develop a local proximity industry and a low ecological footprint construction with: high long term carbon sequestration; 0 waste; almost zero energy consumption; use of proximity products decreasing pollution and CO2 emissions from transport.

The Vega of Granada and its poplar groves, Lorca’s landscape and cultural heritage, a sign of identity for more than a century with a high sentimental component as an intangible asset, offer the ideal ecological raw material for this: wood. LIFE Wood for Future aims to be an instrument for its recovery against the expansion of intensive herbaceous crops, thus absorbing much more CO2 and fighting against climate change, as well as reducing pollution and acting as a green ring for the metropolitan area of Granada.

Project objectives

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Demonstrate and commercialize new structural products for:

Provide a negative CO2 footprint to the timber building sector
Promote sustainable construction with systems based on these bioproducts, reaching a very large market share
Save energy in the production processes of these bioproducts, being prefabricated in wood (CO2 sinks) and mixed wood-concrete (low CO2 emissions), replacing usual materials with high energy costs (concrete, metal and brick).
Increase the value, and therefore the demand, of local wood to boost the poplar forest sector, promote sustainable management and the creation of local green jobs at the rural level.
Use local wood, avoiding importation, wood transport and use of fossil fuels.

To provide the primary forestry sector with tools that guarantee a sustainable local wood supply to the industry:

Demonstrating sustainable forestry and high carbon sequestration, which would generate certified quality wood adapted to MCLam and MCLamBS bioproducts and provide numerous environmental services (improved water, air and soil quality, and increased biodiversity)
Implementing measures for the profitability of the owners, thus increasing replanting and effectiveness in the fight against climate change: Ecoproducer Association and Carbon Credit System (Carbon Farming)

Project scope: The Vega de Granada

The Vega de Granada (158,925 km2) defined by the Genil river basin between the cities of Granada and Loja. Most of the land is privately owned with a high level of parcelisation (41% plots <1ha, 81% <5ha).
Since the end of the 19th century, poplar has had an important presence in the area, playing multiple roles: hydrological and environmental protection, rural development and cultural value. It is a historical crop that has formed part of the historical and cultural landscape of recent centuries.

Partners

LIFE Wood for Future is a project coordinated by the University of Granada, which counts with the Provincial Council of Granada, the Confederación de Organizaciones de Selvicultores de España, the University of Santiago de Compostela and 3edata Ingeniería Ambiental S.L. as beneficiary partners.

Sponsorship

LIFE Wood for Future is committed to achieving synergies with other projects that improve the environment and act against Climate Change and the development of a local bioeconomy in Vega de Granada, its province and region. We seek integration, replicability and transfer between projects, as well as their dissemination among the different agents of society and the economy.

LIFE Wood for Future sponsoring entities or companies

Linked projects

These are the projects linked to LIFE Wood for Future by theme and meeting points.

Associated entities

These are the entities associated with LIFE Wood for Future by theme and meeting points.

Citizen Science Programme

Our citizen science programme aims to involve the public in the in situ collection of data on the biodiversity of the middle and lower reaches of the River Dílar. This data will be essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the restoration works contemplated in the LIFE. In addition, through active citizen participation, we aim to increase general awareness of the multiple problems affecting this and other rivers in the Vega de Granada. Your initiative counts!

To join the citizen science program, please register using the form below. Once registered, you will receive an email giving you access to the data entry portal, available here and on the home page of the website. Here you can also find some simple rules to facilitate your observations of birds in the river and standardize the data collection process (“Protocol for data collection”) and to enter the data collected in the web (“Protocol for data upload”). If you have any doubts or suggestions, you can contact us at carlos.cruz@ugr.es

Inscription

Data Collect

Data upload protocol

Data collection protocol

Our latest news

Seminar and photographic exhibition on poplar presented in Alhama de Granada

News

The 26 photographs selected in the contest organized by the University and the Marjal Producers Association, together with a sound installation, are part of the exhibition at the Galería del Carmen of the Alhama Town Hall.

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LIFE Wood for Future present at a day of reflection on present and future strategies in the Vega of Granada

News

Organized by the University of Granada, through Medialab UGR of the Vice-Rectorate for Social Innovation, Employability and Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with Salvemos la Vega - Vega Educa and the City Council of Huétor Vega.

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Research shows that poplar trees purify water polluted by agricultural fertilizers in the Vega of Granada

News

A study conducted by IFAPA proves the ability of this crop to take advantage of nitrates in its growth and prevent them from contaminating groundwater. The experiment is part of the LIFE Wood for the Future project, led by the University of Granada.

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LIFE Wood for Future present at the breakfast briefing Encuentros SER through researcher Yaiza Fuentes

News

The breakfast was attended by Yaiza Fuentes, a researcher from the UIMA-University of Granada laboratory, a recent doctor who has carried out the mandatory mechanical tests to incorporate poplar into the Spanish and European structural wood standards. During the debate, Yaiza Fuentes spoke about the progress of the project and the importance of the University as an agent to give added value to poplar trees and their wood.

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LIFE WOOD FOR FUTURE

CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND BIODIVERSITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMME

Feel the sound of a poplar tree

(Author of the Work: José Lopez-Montes)

General video of the project

Presentation

Project objectives

Demonstrate and commercialize new structural products for:

To provide the primary forestry sector with tools that guarantee a sustainable local wood supply to the industry:

Project scope: The Vega de Granada

Partners

Sponsorship

Linked projects

Associated entities

Citizen Science Programme

Our latest news

Seminar and photographic exhibition on poplar presented in Alhama de Granada

LIFE Wood for Future present at a day of reflection on present and future strategies in the Vega of Granada

Research shows that poplar trees purify water polluted by agricultural fertilizers in the Vega of Granada

LIFE Wood for Future present at the breakfast briefing Encuentros SER through researcher Yaiza Fuentes