Bio For Piri successfully closes two years of networking: the project that makes forests a driver of the future in the Pyrenees

The Bio For Piri project has demonstrated the potential of the forest bioeconomy to conserve nature and revitalise the rural environment, creating more resilient forests against fires and generating a future in the Pyrenees.

Over two years, the project has had the participation of 76 people and 26 administrations, entities and companies, and has directly benefited 428 people through its actions. A total of 233 hectares of forests, 39 hectares of pastures have been managed and 72,356 hectares have been planned for fire prevention.

The Bio For Piri project, promoted by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera in coordination with the Business and Climate Foundation and four other entities, concludes two years of work with results that confirm its social, economic and environmental impact, as well as its potential as a reproducible model.

Faced with the fragility of the Pyrenees, caused by the abandonment of agricultural and livestock activity, which has increased the biomass in the forests and has turned them into continuous areas and highly vulnerable to fire, Bio For Piri has opted for an innovative strategy: to turn the risk of a large forest fire into a driver of change. The forest bioeconomy is the key to giving life to the territory, generating employment and making forests more resilient.

Bio For Piri has worked in two areas of action – Alinyà (Alt Urgell, Lleida) and Aínsa-Sobrarbe (Huesca) – with a clear vision: to take care of the forest, reduce risk and promote new activities that keep the territory alive. It is a virtuous circle: naturalistic and adaptive forest management, fire prevention and socio-economic dynamization.

Impact of the project in figures

The results of Bio For Piri can be explained by its impact in three different areas: social, economic and environmental.

Social sphere:
• Participation of 76 people and 26 administrations, entities and companies involved in the project.
• Estimated communicative impact of 20 million people.
• 428 direct beneficiaries of the actions carried out.
• Organization of 2 bioblitz (citizen science event) in which 58 people participated.
• Celebration of 17 volunteer days that have brought together a total of 105 participants.

Economic area:
• Acquisition of 7 new biomass supply customers, including the CAP, the municipal sports centre and the municipal music schools of La Seu d’Urgell, as well as a pig farm in the area.
• Construction of 1 rural house built with local wood in collaboration with the IAAC.
• Celebration of 2 editions of the forestry peonage course, with a total of 16 participants, of which 13 have obtained the European chainsawing card ECC1.
• Creation of 6 jobs in the forest.
• Organization of 4 knowledge transfer seminars on naturalistic forest management, with the participation of some 87 people.
• Development of 8 environmental packages, which will attract private capital to promote the forest bioeconomy and, at the same time, help companies meet their sustainability objectives. 25 companies from Catalonia and Aragon have shown interest in Bio For Piri’s shares during these two years.

Environmental field:
• Planning of 72,356 hectares of forests for fire prevention.
• Management of 233.4 hectares of forests using naturalistic forestry methods.
• Management of 39 hectares of pastures for the promotion of extensive livestock farming.
• Creation of 11 water points to water livestock.
• Construction of 1 water tank for firefighting equipment.
• Conditioning of 25.9 kilometers of roads.
• Installation of 5 interactive itineraries in the Aínsa-Sobrarbe area that allow visitors to learn more about the forests in the area.
• Execution of 12 actions to improve biodiversity within the strategic areas of action for fire prevention.

Final conclusions
After two years of work, Bio For Piri’s approach has been validated and has proven to have great potential. It is a project that works and can be replicated in other territories.

The project has generated lessons of great importance, such as that the commitment to a network of small farms is the most sustainable way to establish roots and revitalise the territory. It also shows that local wood has the potential to significantly increase its added value in areas such as bioconstruction and become a key asset in the development of the territory.

The economic dynamization of the territory, however, is not enough to promote rural repopulation. It has been proven that this is a challenge that goes beyond the scope of the project. Empowering women and ensuring access to housing and land, for example, are determining factors in responding to the demographic challenge.

Project partners
This initiative is promoted by the Fundació Catalunya la Pedrera in coordination with the Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya, the Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture, the Business and Climate Foundation, the Fundació Integra Pirineus and the Fundació Pau Costa.

Bio For Piri is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.