Back in 2019, we were invited to take part in the LifeMycoRestore Project by a friend who owned a sustainable forest management company in Barcelona. The project aimed to promote sustainable forest management practices, mycology, and truffle production. As demonstration site promoters, we were tasked with experimenting with these practices and sharing the results with others.
Initially, the project's focus on sustainable forest management was crucial to us, as we manage 230 hectares of land in Silveira. Pedro, one of our partners, traveled to Barcelona for a month-long training session on sustainable forest management practices. The knowledge he gained from this training was implemented over the last two years in Silveira and helped to make the forest more resilient.
However, as the project progressed, we became increasingly interested in the mycology aspect of the project. We set up an amateur mycology lab to conduct experiments and produce mother spawns for mushroom growth in the forest. We even experimented with growing mushrooms inside logs from the main tree species present in Silveira, including the pine stone, acacia dealbata, acacia Australiana, and eucalyptus.
Truffle production was another significant focus of the project, and one of our partners, ID Forest, was an expert in this field. We decided to experiment with a new approach to truffle production and inoculated two different oak forests located in Cerdeira and Silveira. While the results are still too soon to show, feedback from the first experiment has been positive, and we believe that we will achieve success in the future.
The project's impact on us at Silveira and Cerdeira has been significant. LifeMycorestore sparked a curiosity in the fungi world, leading us to focus on producing edible and medicinal mushrooms in the forest. Medicinal mushrooms and techniques to produce edible mushrooms in the forest will also be a big focus for us in the future. The project has been an essential part of our ecological restoration efforts in Silveira, and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a valuable project.
In conclusion, the LifeMycoRestore project has been an informative and beneficial experience for us at Silveira and Cerdeira. It has helped us to develop sustainable forest management practices, experiment with mycology, and truffle production. The project's impact on our ecological restoration efforts has been significant, and we are excited to continue exploring the world of fungi in the future.
Also, we were able to inaugurate our Basecamp at Silveira Tech, a place to support us on the restoration of the land and our educational experiences, with the Technical Seminar of the LifeMycoRestore project.
We gathered researchers, scientists, permaculturists, students, partners, and public entities that came together to actively discuss innovative techniques for using fungi to bring more resilience to Mediterranean forests in the face of climate change.
We are grateful to our partners and everyone who contributed with pearls of wisdom and great exchanges. Let`s keep this sparkle alive!