The University of Deusto participates in the BMA project, which aims to promote the management and market exploitation of the Atlantic mixed forest in the Basque Country.

In the Basque Country, we have a very unique type of forest, known as the Atlantic mixed forest. It is a forest resulting from the abandonment of previous management in the Cantabrian climatic zone, which is evolving into a woodland composed of a mix of different species, of varying ages, and with diverse forms of regeneration. Although these forests are currently in a state of neglect and free evolution, it is not only feasible, but also necessary, to steer them back towards sustainable forest management to ensure that society can be supplied with the wide range of ecosystem services they provide.

To this end, in 2024 an Operational Group was established, comprising 11 cooperating organisations, with the aim of promoting more active management of this type of forest, encouraging the use of the timber produced, and enhancing the ways in which society can compensate for additional contributions from these forests.

The three Basque forest owners’ associations, their project management company Basoekin, the carpenters’ association AROTZGI of Gipuzkoa, the University of Deusto and the Valencian UPV, the waste valorisation engineering company Ma+D, the IT engineering firm Elkarmedia, and the scientific illustration company Norarte Visual Science — all coordinated by Basoa Fundazioa — make up the Operational Group for this project, co-financed by EU funds and by the Department of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government.

Forest owners' associations are aware of the status and situation of forests and their owners. They act as intermediaries to provide their primary data to the University of Deusto. Arotzgi does the same, collecting data related to the wood processing industry. Thus, thanks to their knowledge, the University of Deusto collects primary information on end users and produces an analysis that ultimately improves the way this information is fed back to the forest, its management, its owners, and to potential markets where processors and consumers are involved. In turn, the University of Deusto has carried out an analysis of the ecosystem services provided by Atlantic mixed forests and has identified a set of potential mechanisms to internalise these services, in order to compensate forest owners who ensure their provision to society.