The partners and associated partners of the Interreg Sudoe REMAS project (Spain, France, Portugal and Andorra) met in Bordeaux at the beginning of February 2022 with the aim of outlining the strategies of this European programme, which is coming to an end this year. For this purpose, the prestigious French school "Bordeaux Science Agro - École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques" provided a working space with the aim of advancing in the actions framed in REMAS. As planned, we also went to the field to visit the French pilot area located in Saint-Jean-d'Illac, where they explained to us the management of its forest ecosystem, vegetation and soil.

Among the actions organised in France, it is important to note the meetings held between partners and associates with local, regional and national entities, in the framework of the development of guidelines for the prevention and management of greenhouse gas emission risks. These contribute to the transnational action plan for the inclusion of emissions risk in sustainable forest planning and management strategies in the study regions.

REMAS is also taking the necessary steps to establish an interactive and knowledge-sharing space with key actors to contribute to the improvement of the coordination and effectiveness of emission risk prevention plans with measures to safeguard and enhance carbon stocks.

In parallel, REMAS will transfer and capitalise on the products obtained in each work module through training courses structured in the following thematic units (TU):

.TU0. Introduction

.TU1. Identification and assessment of vulnerable forest ecosystems.

.TU2. Assessment of the carbon stocks of forest ecosystems: remote sensing quantification.

.TU3. Carbon stocks dynamics and monitoring of forest ecosystems in the pilot REMAS areas.

.TU4. Greenhouse gas emission risk model: calculation and implementation.

.TU5. Best practices for carbon fixation and restoration in damaged ecosystems.

.TU6. Policies and strategies for mitigating the risk of GHG emissions.

On the other hand, a methodology for estimating the risk of greenhouse gas emissions is being developed, which aims to establish the scientific basis for calculating the risk of GHG emissions from forest fires, in addition to obtaining cartography that identifies and localises the decision-making process of public administrations in terms of forest fire prevention and extinction. In the same way, the results obtained in the pilot areas in cross-border cooperation will make it possible to obtain data for future estimates and surveys on the evolution of carbon in forest ecosystems.

Another of the work being implemented and which was presented at the meeting in France is that REMAS continues to communicate through its networks and its team is producing videos explaining the different actions of the project.

The REMAS project is co-financed by the Interreg Sudoe programme through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In it, prestigious entities from the four countries of the SUDOE area focus on providing results (methodology, protocol, transnational action plan, etc.) to provide the southwest area with strategies and action plans for the prevention and management of risks. To this end, they are drawing up an action plan to continue with the planned actions.

REMAS, coordinated by the Association of Forest Municipalities of the Comunitat Valenciana (AMUFOR), has prestigious partners such as the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV-ITACA), the University of Valencia (UV-CIDE), the Provincial Council of Valencia (DIVAL), the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology – National Centre of CSIC (INIA-CSIC), the Municipality of Loulé (CML), the Higher Institute of Agronomy (ISA), Bordeaux Sciences Agro – National School of Agronomic Sciences of Bordeaux and associated entities to whom we are grateful for their participation and collaboration in the different phases of the Project (https://sudoeremas.com/en/the-partners/).