INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE DEZVOLTARE IN SILVICULTURA MARIN DRACEA

Their core work

INCDS Marin Drăcea is Romania's national forestry research institute, focused on sustainable forest management, monitoring, and conservation. They work on forest inventory systems, genetic resource preservation, carbon flux measurement, and wildfire risk management. Their practical contributions span from harmonizing national forest data with EU-wide standards to developing strategies for protecting communities at the wildland-urban interface from megafires.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2015–2019) centered on forest data infrastructure — harmonizing national forest inventories, building monitoring systems, and integrating Earth observation with bioeconomy planning. From 2021 onward, their focus shifted decisively toward climate adaptation: forest genetic resilience, wildfire risk under changing climate scenarios, and community protection from megafires. The trajectory shows a move from data and measurement toward actionable climate-resilience strategies.

INCDS is moving from forest measurement and inventory work toward applied climate adaptation — expect growing expertise in wildfire management, genetic resilience, and forest ecosystem services under climate stress.

How they like to work

INCDS participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is typical for national research institutes contributing domain expertise to large EU consortia. With 91 unique partners across 32 countries from just 4 projects, they operate in very large consortia (averaging ~23 partners per project). This makes them a well-connected but non-leading contributor — reliable forestry specialists brought in for their national-level data and field expertise.

Despite only 4 projects, INCDS has built an unusually broad network of 91 partners across 32 countries, reflecting the large-scale pan-European nature of forest monitoring and wildfire research consortia. Their reach spans essentially all of Europe with no narrow geographic bias.

What sets them apart

INCDS is Romania's primary national forestry research authority, giving them direct access to Romanian forest inventory data, field sites, and monitoring infrastructure that no other partner can provide for Southeast European forests. Their combination of forest genetics, carbon mapping, and wildfire expertise is uncommon — most forestry institutes specialize in one of these, not all three. For any consortium needing Romanian forestry ground-truth data or Carpathian mountain forest expertise, INCDS is the natural choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FirEUrisk
  Their largest project by far (EUR 180,000) — a major European wildfire management initiative tackling megafires and climate-driven fire risk, signaling their strategic pivot toward climate adaptation.
• DIABOLO
  Pan-European forest information harmonization effort that established INCDS as a contributor to EU-wide forest data standards and bioeconomy planning.
• FORGENIUS
  Addresses the critical question of forest genetic diversity and adaptability — directly relevant to long-term forest survival under climate change.