In 1998, a joint initiative between USSE, the Maison de la Forêt Aquitaine and INRA led to the creation and launch of the European Institute of Planted Forests (IEFC) thanks to the support of the European members of the EUROSILVASUR project.

The idea for this network was born in 1987 when the pioneering spirit of foresters from Aquitaine, Galicia and the Spanish Basque Country led them to explore the whole of the European continent (and even beyond since the 2023 GA), while building friendships along the way; sowing the seeds for decades of fruitful collaboration and networking between multiple players in the research and forestry sectors.

From its Atlantic-centered beginnings, today the IEFC board, led by its president Susana Barreiro of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, together with its committed network of partners and donors, resolutely takes steps to expand its horizon across the entire European continent and position IEFC as the knowledge hub for sustainable planted forest management.