ASOCIACION PARA LA CERTIFICACION ESPANOLA FORESTAL - PEFC ESPANA

Their core work

PEFC España is the Spanish national body for the PEFC forest certification system — they certify that forests are managed sustainably and that wood and forest-derived products come from responsibly governed sources. Their practical work involves setting and auditing forest management standards, maintaining certified supply chains, and connecting the Spanish forestry sector to markets that require sustainability credentials. In H2020 projects they act as a sector gateway: bringing certified forest owner networks, supply chain traceability expertise, and standards know-how to research consortia working on biomass and bio-based materials. They are not a laboratory — they are a market and standards intermediary that gives research projects access to real, certified forest ecosystems and the industry actors within them.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (Biomasud Plus, 2016–2018), PEFC España's contribution was tightly scoped to the residential bioenergy market — solid fuels, pellets, and firewood from certified Mediterranean forests, with no documented keyword depth beyond the energy-environment nexus. By 2020, with BeonNAT running through 2025, their footprint expanded substantially into the bioeconomy: marginal lands, intercropping, shrub species, and a wide set of end-products including bioplastics, activated carbon, essential oils, and biochar. The trajectory is clear — from a single-application (heat/energy) certification body to a multi-application biomass gateway bridging forestry standards with circular economy value chains.

PEFC España is moving from energy-only biomass certification toward multi-product bioeconomy supply chains — consortia working on bio-based materials, biochar, or non-food land use will find them an increasingly relevant partner for certified feedstock access and market legitimacy.

How they like to work

PEFC España has participated in every H2020 project as a consortium member, never as coordinator — consistent with their role as a sector bridge rather than a research driver. Across only two projects they have accumulated 24 unique partners in 11 countries, suggesting they join large, internationally diverse consortia where their certification authority and forest sector networks add a legitimacy and access layer that research-only partners cannot provide. Working with them means gaining a direct connection to the Spanish (and by extension PEFC-network) certified forestry sector, but they will not lead project management or hold the research agenda.

With 24 distinct consortium partners spread across 11 countries from just two projects, PEFC España operates within broad, multi-national research consortia — typical for RIA and CSA projects under the bio-based and energy pillars. Their network is European in scope, likely anchored in Mediterranean and Central European forestry nations where PEFC certification is strongest.

What sets them apart

PEFC España occupies a rare position in EU research consortia: they are the official Spanish forest certification authority, which means they offer something no university or research institute can — direct governance access to certified forest management standards and the ability to involve certified forest owners and supply chain operators as real project participants. For any project needing to validate a bio-based supply chain against sustainability standards, or requiring market uptake within the certified forestry sector, PEFC España provides a credibility bridge that is otherwise hard to replicate. Their combination of standards authority, sector network, and growing bioeconomy project experience makes them particularly valuable for projects needing to move from lab to certified, market-ready biomass supply chains.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BeonNAT
  The largest and most recent project (EUR 117,651, running to 2025), it dramatically broadens PEFC España's scope into multi-product biomass valorisation — bioplastics, biochar, activated carbon, and essential oils from shrub species on marginal lands — signalling their strategic pivot into the circular bioeconomy.
• Biomasud Plus
  Their entry into H2020 (2016–2018) as part of a CSA developing the Mediterranean residential solid biofuel market, establishing their role as a certification and market-development actor in the bioenergy space.