Santiago Michavila Puente-Villegas, a Spanish PhD student from INIA and ETSI de Montes of UPM, was selected as runner-up in the INCREDIBLE Knowledge Contest on NWFP with his contribution, New drilling method for resin extraction in Segovia (Spain). 

Dronecoria, founded by Lot Amorós of Elche, Spain, is applying drone technology for dispersion of pelletized seeds for reforestation. He and his team were awarded $20,000 for their innovative development of a seed-coating method, which is critical for their approach to large scale, low-cost direct sowing of native seeds for ecosystem restoration.

Last March was held a new meeting of the operational group MIKOGEST (Dynamic & Innovative Management of Mycological Resources) to address the work of the innovation project it plans to carry out. The aim is to manage the regulation of this resource by tools based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), within a framework that guarantees sustainability in the use of the resource, traceability in the value chain and provides useful information to the collector and the business sector.

The advances in mechanization, genetic improvement and some silviculture techniques that were innovative at the time and are now considered almost universal, have allowed species such as poplar, eucalyptus or pine to become profitable forest products in Europe, and with a promising future in the context of the new bio-economy.

Over the last few decades, forestry activities have undergone considerable technical evolution based on the incorporation of specialized machinery and technology.