• We are working within the framework of the EuskoBasoa 2050 program to optimize the production of plant material adapted to the new climatic and sanitary conditions.
• The objective is to provide the forestry sector with better adapted and higher quality trees.

 

Forests play an essential role in climate regulation and biodiversity conservation. However, climate change is altering these forest ecosystems, favoring the proliferation of diseases that weaken plant species. In the Basque Country, one of the most representative forest species is the radiata pine, frequently used in the timber industry and the subject of numerous scientific studies. However, their vulnerability to the needle blights such as the red band or the brown spot has highlighted the need to strengthen their resilience and diversify the sector’s resources.

To address this challenge and others facing the forestry and wood sector, the NEIKER technology center is working within the framework of the EuskoBasoa 2050 program, promoted by the Basque Government, on a line of research that seeks to optimize the production of plant material adapted to the new climatic and sanitary conditions through the genetic improvement of radiata pine, with the aim of providing the forestry sector with trees better adapted to the current context and with higher quality.

Inproved seeds

One of the main axes of this line of research is the creation of seed orchards to generate improved seeds with greater genetic variability. For this purpose, NEIKER has recovered genetic material of interest already selected in the 1980s for its favorable characteristics in terms of growth and wood volume.

“From this material, 62 parents are being replicated to establish pilot plantations that will serve as the basis for these orchards. These plantations will not only provide higher quality seeds, but will also contribute to more sustainable forest management,” explains Javier Herrero, researcher at NEIKER’s Forestry Science Department.

The grafting replication of these trees is carried out with the participation of the CIFP Escuela Agraria Derio – Derio Nekazaritza Eskola LHII, where in 2024 the training of teachers and students in advanced forestry techniques was carried out. This training has not only allowed a transfer of knowledge, but has also actively involved the new generations in the process, integrating these practices within the educational program of the training cycle of Forestry and Natural Environment Management.

The selection of these trees has been complemented with a genetic analysis of radiata pine in the Basque Country and the Cantabrian Coast, using DNA techniques. This study, based on the identification and comparison of genetic markers, has provided detailed knowledge of the genetic diversity of the species, an essential factor for its conservation and capacity to adapt to diseases and environmental changes.

This knowledge has made it possible to design new seed orchards with genetically diverse specimens, ensuring that future plantations will have trees that are better adapted to the conditions of the environment.

The needle blights issue

However, NEIKER in its line of study has also encountered one of the best known problems in the forest ecosystem of Euskadi: both the needle blights, the red band and the brown spot, diseases that affect radiata pine and compromise its development. In order to find a solution, in recent years the center has carried out inspections in different areas of the region with the aim of identifying trees that, despite being in affected areas, show an apparent tolerance to the disease. Following these surveys, 51 specimens with possible natural tolerance have been identified.

‘These trees have been multiplied and used to establish an experimental plantation of 2.7 hectares in Llodio, in collaboration with the local town council, to evaluate their viability as resistant individuals and analyze their behavior over time, in the hope that they can be used in future repopulations,’ says the researcher.

In addition to strengthening this species, NEIKER is committed to a forest management that promotes the use of complementary species, expanding the knowledge of new forest species of interest, in order to generate a more resilient and adaptable landscape to environmental challenges.

EuskoBasoa 2050

EuskoBasoa 2050 is the Basque Forest Improvement R&D&I Plan, developed by NEIKER and supported by the Basque Government, with the aim of strengthening the forestry and wood sector, through research and knowledge transfer. Since its launch in 2019, EuskoBasoa 2050 has been working to improve the future of Basque forests.

After 5 years of work, a review of the plan has been carried out, incorporating the new challenges and challenges facing European forests. Therefore, the lines have been redefined as: health, genetic improvement, restoration and biotechnology, working in all of them, in a transversal way, sustainability and Climate Change.

In February 2024 we held a transfer conference in Arkaute to tell the forestry and wood sector about our progress in EuskoBasoa 2050.