RETECHFOR: technology and data to protect the forests of the future

Forest fires, rural abandonment, and lack of sustainable forest management threaten our ecosystems every summer. But in the face of these challenges, technological innovation is emerging as a strategic ally. RETECHFOR—TEchnological and territorial NETwork for forest monitoring and environmental disaster reduction—is an ambitious project that places data, artificial intelligence, and territorial cooperation at the service of protecting our forests.

Funded by the European Union through NextGenerationEU, this joint initiative of the Regional Government of Castilla y León and the Government of the Canary Islands aims to transform the way we manage forests: from delayed reaction to intelligent anticipation, from scattered data to integrated information, from forests as a problem to forests as an economic and sustainable driver.

From sensor to intelligent forest

The proposal is clear: to turn forest areas into real-time monitored environments. Sensors deployed on aerial and satellite platforms, advanced data analytics, and digital technologies working in coordination to detect risks before it's too late, optimize land management, and reduce the carbon footprint while boosting the local bioeconomy.

But RETECHFOR is not just technology. It's also governance, cooperation, and territorial vision. The project brings together public administrations, universities, technology centers, companies, and sector associations under a horizontal structure that ensures each actor contributes their expertise and that solutions respond to the real needs of the land.

Among these actors, the AIR Institute stands out, taking on a strategic role as a Technological Development Partner. Its responsibility: to lead the design and implementation of the Forest Data Space, an interoperable and secure digital infrastructure that will serve as the brain of the entire system.

Data as the backbone

The Forest Data Space being developed by the AIR Institute will integrate information from multiple sources—geospatial, sensor-based, audiovisual, existing administrative systems—and make it available to forest managers in a secure, traceable manner aligned with European data sovereignty standards.

This isn't about accumulating information, but making it useful. The platform will enable real-time scenario visualization, apply artificial intelligence to anticipate risks, connect systems that until now operated in isolation, and facilitate strategic decision-making in both fire prevention and suppression.

The AIR Institute leads Work Package 2 of the project alongside key technology partners such as CARTIF, CTME, LUCE, and VEXIZA, responsible for designing the technical architecture, developing the necessary technological connectors, and establishing a data governance model based on traceability, digital contracts, and access control. All of this with one premise: that the technology be scalable, replicable, and serve public-private collaboration.

Three real pilots in real territory

RETECHFOR solutions don't remain in the laboratory. The project already has three pilot projects underway that validate the technology on the ground in strategic forest areas of Castilla y León: El Amogable in Soria, El Maíllo in Salamanca, and Valcabadillo in Palencia. In these locations, continuous monitoring technologies, precision forestry, and fire prevention are being tested in representative environments of high environmental value.

These three pilots allow for fine-tuning the tools to the reality of the forest, identifying improvements, and demonstrating that technological innovation applied to the forestry sector is not a promise, but an ongoing reality already generating tangible results.

A model for the future of forests

RETECHFOR represents a paradigm shift: moving from managing forests as a problem to understanding them as a strategic asset. An asset that protects biodiversity, retains population in rural areas, generates sustainable employment, and helps mitigate climate change.

Thanks to projects like this and the work of entities like the AIR Institute, the forestry sector is advancing toward a more intelligent, resilient, and connected model, where data ceases to be a byproduct and becomes the tool that unites environmental protection, economic development, and territorial cohesion. Because protecting forests is no longer just about putting out fires: it's about anticipating, managing with intelligence, and building the future.