Institute of Mediterranean & Forest Ecosystems-Hellenic Agricultural Organization "DEMETER" (FRIA)
Country: Greece | Region: Attica
The Institute of Mediterranean & Forest Ecosystems is one of the oldest research institutes in Greece. It was established in 1929 as the research arm of the Greek Forest Service, located near the center of Athens, well known with its former title ‘Forest Research Institute of Athens’ (FRIA). Both the historic name and the official title are currently in use. At this time, the Institute belongs to the Hellenic Agricultural Organization "DEMETER" which is a quite newly (2011) formed organization of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, in an effort to improve the links between research and practice in the agricultural and forestry sector, training, scientific support and financial efficiency.
In its almost 90 years of operation, the Institute has produced research mainly focusing on the research needs of the practicing foresters of the Forest Service, with emphasis given to the development and protection of Mediterranean forests. It comprises seven laboratories, each covering an area of forestry research, thus maintaining close ties with national operational organizations (Forest Service, Fire Service, General Secretariat for Civil Protection, local authorities) and the private sector (forest industries, private citizens, etc.) as well. The Institute of Mediterranean & Forest Ecosystems has contributed in many aspects of forest management in Greece, solving practical problems and transferring new scientific knowledge and technology to the operational world.
Furthermore, the long-term collaboration with National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Faculty of Biology–Department of Botany, an active member of the GENMEDA network, has revealed the significant value of the native tree flora conservation and its importance for reforestation/restoration processes.
Today, the small-scale FRIA’s seed bank hosts more than 20 native tree taxa collections, representing only 12% of the native tree flora of Greece, aiming at the study of seed germination ecology, essential knowledge for forest regeneration and restoration purposes.
Finally, FRIA has coordinated the research project ForestSeeds-Contribution to the technical knowledge development on forest reproductive material (Koutsovoulou 2015), funded under the Action “Research & Technology Development Innovation projects (AgroETAK)”, MIS 453350, in the framework of the Operational Program “Human Resources Development”, European Social Fund and National Resources through the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013.
Contact
Dr Evangelia Daskalakou
E-mail: edaskalakou@fria.gr
Institute of Mediterranean & Forest Ecosystems
P. O. Box: 14180, Terma Alkmanos, Ilisia, 11528, Athens, Greece
Tel.: +30 210 7786175, Fax: +30 210 7784602
Website: http://www.fria.gr