The Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia Consortium (CTFC), based inSolsona (Lleida), was formed initially between the County Council of Solsonès and the University of Lleida, and later the Provincial Council of Lleida, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, the Government of Catalonia and the Autonomous University of Barcelona were incorporated.
The Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia Consortium is appointed to the Administration of the Government of Catalonia and interacts with it by the relevant Department in the field of forests. It also belongs to the CERCA network of Catalan research centers.
The mission of CTFC is to contribute to the modernisation and competitiveness of the forest sector, to rural development and to the sustainable management of natural habitats, through research, transfer of knowledge and technology to society and with the aim of becoming a reference centre at national and international level.
To achieve this, they are organized on three programs: multifunctional forest management, landscape dynamics and biodiversity, and governance and bioeconomy.
The research carried out within these programs is focused on key aspects such as the balance of the environmental functions, the adaptation to the climate change and the competitiveness along the value chains. The activity carried out in the programs is transferred by the company FBS.
Multifunctional forest management:
They consider the multifunctional forest management based on knowledge and the development of tools to ensure the ecological and socioeconomic values of forest ecosystems and the sustainable provision of goods and services.
They study the dynamics of forest areas to promote an adaptive forestry. Research and innovation in multifunctional forest planning at different levels and the development of support tools for decision-making, are key aspects in this sense.
They also investigate the fire-forest managementrelationship and the prevention of wild forest fires.