What if we could obtain holm oaks that produced more acorns, more regularly and with better characteristics?
The dehesa is one of our most valuable ecosystems, but it also faces significant challenges in terms of productivity and regeneration, and much of its balance is linked to an essential fruit: the acorn. Juan Luis Peñuelas Rubira has been working for years precisely on how to improve its production.
A forestry engineer and former director of the "El Serranillo" National Center for Forest Genetic Resources, he has developed an innovative line of research based on the domestication of the holm oak for its fruit-bearing potential. This approach could open new possibilities for increasing the density of our dehesas (pasturelands), animal feed, and even human consumption, and proposes a different way of looking at the holm oak: not only as a forest tree, but also as a fruit-bearing species with enormous potential.
On October 1st, Juan Luis Peñuelas will explain to us at Campus del Jamón how far this innovative way of understanding the future of the dehesa can go.”