Guadalajara.- Two projects based in Guadalajara will receive a total of 981,896 euros to boost the bioeconomy linked to the forest and contribute to the ecological transition. The Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), in collaboration with the General Secretariat of Demographic Challenge, has resolved the call for aid for 2023 within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
The project presented by the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá and the Association for the Development of the Alcarria and the Countryside (ADAC) will receive 535,136 euros for the implementation of a new model of forest bioeconomy that will unite the objectives of fighting depopulation and promoting fire prevention.
For its part, the Fernando González Bernáldez Interuniversity Foundation for Natural Spaces will have an aid of 446,760 to promote a bioeconomy based on forest ecosystems of protected areas, specifically to apply it in the Sierra Norte Natural Park of Guadalajara. This foundation is an initiative created in 1996 by the University of Alcalá and the Complutense and Autonomous Universities of Madrid.
In the same call, 56 projects have been selected, which will have their scope in 47 provinces and will have a funding of 77 million euros. Some of the projects address challenges at the national level, such as the creation of a State Network of Public Forests (REMP) and the identification and communication with forest owners for the sharing of forest management.
95% funding
Grants range from EUR 100,000 to EUR 2 million per project, with a maximum co-financing rate of 95%. All projects must be completed by 31 December 2025.
The 77 million euros of this call are added to another 20 million euros allocated in 2021 to aid for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the ecological transition published by the Biodiversity Foundation and which have allowed the implementation of 14 projects, currently in execution.
This new call, which is part of investment 4 (sustainable forest management) of component 4 (conservation and restoration of ecosystems and their biodiversity) of the PRTR, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, seeks to support projects aligned with the new Spanish Forest Strategy horizon 2050 (EFE) and the Spanish Forest Plan 2022-2032 (PFE).