Spain
The sustainable management of abandoned MED dryland forests affects the hydrological balance of watersheds providing ecosystem services and freshwater to rural and urban societies in over 50% of Southern Europe’s land. In Valence, the effectiveness of the C.A.F.E. approach will be tested to enhance sustainable forest management.
Technologies and Practical solutions developed here
Adaptive vegetation management tool (CAFE)
Leader
Polytechnic University of Valencia
Area
Profile 1
Altitude: 1,080-1,100 m a.s.l.
Coordinates: 39º04′-N, 1º14′-W
Size: 0.2 ha (plot), 50 km² (Forest),
Mean annual temp: 12.8 °C
Mean annual prec: 466 mm
Mean annual ETo: 749 mm
Aridity index: 0.62
Local population: 6,000
Main land uses, crops and
animals: agro-silvopastoral,
almonds, olives, beekeeping,
hunting, sheep
Profile 2
La Calderona
Altitude: 790 m a.s.l.
Coordinates: 39°42′ N 0°27′ W
Size: 0.2 ha (plot), 112 km2
(watershed), scalable to ≈10000 km2
Mean annual temp: 15.0°C
Mean annual prec: 350 mm
Mean annual ETo: 837 mm
Aridity index: 0.42
Local population: 3,000
Main land uses, crops and animals:
agro-silvopastoral, orange orchards,
carob tree, almonds, olives, livestock
The Living Lab
The Spanish Living Lab, part of the SALAM-MED project, focuses on adaptive forest management (AFM) to enhance ecosystem services (ES) in Calderona and La Hunde forests. Recognizing forests as essential public goods, the lab engages diverse stakeholders in co-creating solutions that balance environmental preservation with economic viability.
Through workshops, stakeholders collaboratively prioritized essential ecosystem services, including biodiversity conservation, sustainable resource use, climate adaptation, and economic opportunities like sustainable tourism and job creation. Key outcomes include developing spatial maps for ecosystem services, identifying actionable forest management strategies, and creating a comprehensive management roadmap. Future steps involve establishing innovative payment schemes for ecosystem services aligned with European Union carbon farming regulations.
Monitoring and evaluation have shown high stakeholder engagement and maintained enthusiasm, with participation rates averaging 83%. Efforts have successfully involved significant female representation, though engaging youth remains challenging.
While the lab efficiently manages its resources, ongoing evaluations focus on practical solutions and business opportunities linked to sustainable land and ecosystem management. The collaborative approach, initially faced with stakeholder differences, ultimately fostered a cohesive, solution-oriented community.
The Spanish Living Lab highlights the importance of clearly demonstrating immediate benefits of adaptive forest management to stakeholders and aligns closely with evolving European regulations. This flexible, inclusive strategy has effectively integrated diverse perspectives, positioning the lab as a model for collaborative environmental governance and sustainable rural development.
Last News from the Living Lab
This section aims to foster dialogue and exchange of information among key Living Lab stakeholders, continuously updating all participants on progress and news about activities carried out.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Stakeholders
The Living Lab is based on the collaboration of different stakeholders, each of whom brings useful skills and resources to address the area’s challenges in an integrated way. Their active participation enables the development of effective and shared solutions. This section presents the main stakeholders and their contributions to the project.
Primo Principio S.c.a.r.l.
Primo Principio is an Italian SME with 10 years of experience in industrial research and development of software solutions, data analytics, predictive modeling applied to the world of agronomy, plant phytopathology and simulation of complex biological phenomena…
Abinsula S.r.l
Founded in 2012, Abinsula is one of the main Italian players in the field of embedded, web and mobile solutions. Its core business is represented by the automotive sector, a domain in which – thanks to a very high specialization – it has managed to pos …
Would you like to be added among the stakeholders?
Sign up and we will add you.
Technologies and Practical solutions developed in this Living Lab
The sustainable management of abandoned MED dryland forests has impacts on the hydrological balance of watersheds providing ecosystem services and freshwater to rural and urban societies in over 50% of S-Europe’s land. Across the MED (Spain, Italy, France, Greece…), there is an urgent need to optimize adaptive forest management approaches. Many of these dryland forests are located in wildland-urban interface, where besides their impact on hydrological cycling, fire risk becomes a major issue that claims for urgent forest management.
Click on the cards below to learn more about the individual technologies tested in the living lab.
Adaptive vegetation management tool (CAFE)
References
Zenodo References
Stakeholders Signup
Primo Principio S.c.a.r.l.
Primo Principio is an Italian SME with 10 years of experience in industrial research and development of software solutions, data analytics, predictive modeling applied to the world of agronomy, plant phytopathology and simulation of complex biological phenomena. It has developed its own technological solution (www.wiforagri.com ) which it markets as Saas (Software as a Service).
It currently works in Italy, Slovenia and Greece and actively and continuously participates in regional, national and European research, development and innovation projects in its field. Thanks to this strong inclination towards research and continuous innovation, it has been able to integrate highly verticalized technologies and skills in the design and implementation of DSS for agricultural support, it has been a supplier to regional agencies for agricultural development in Sardinia, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Lazio and provides its technologies and consultancy to producer associations, agronomic studies (as well as small and large agricultural companies).
It has a multidisciplinary team that knows how to combine engineering, software development and data analysis skills with agronomic, biological and bioinformatics profiles.
Abinsula S.r.l.
Founded in 2012, Abinsula is one of the main Italian players in the field of embedded, web and mobile solutions. Its core business is represented by the automotive sector, a domain in which – thanks to a very high specialization – it has managed to position itself as a supplier of innovative ICT solutions at a global level. The company’s rapid growth has been supported by the development of ABILITY, a Linux distribution for embedded systems, which over time has found application in various fields, as well as being a central product in the automotive solutions domain.
For several years, the automotive sector has been accompanied by the development of solutions applied to the agritech and healthcare sectors. Abinsula also offers extensive experience in common embedded technologies, such as wired and wireless communication technologies, mobile applications for Android, iOS and other smart devices and the development of IoT platforms. Abinsula’s success is based on continuous research and development, inspired by the desire to introduce innovative solutions to the market that can provide answers to current or future problems and needs.